Are there really a lot of counterfeit 1950 D Jeffersons out there?
RickMilauskas
Posts: 1,985 ✭✭✭
I've been reading up on key dates of variuos series and have heard that the 50 D Jefferson was heavily counterfeited back in the 50's.
This seems like a waste of effort to me with today's prices. Does anyone know if this is really the case?
Rick
This seems like a waste of effort to me with today's prices. Does anyone know if this is really the case?
Rick
0
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Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
a roll of 50-D was going for $850
2nd high in series behind the 39-D for $2250
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I SUSPECT that because some 1950-D nickels come from very worn out dies, that somebody years ago decided these coins must be counterfeit.
Tom DeLorey
or can one be made out of the mint that is the same as mint made?
<< <i>This seems like a waste of effort to me with today's prices. >>
At todays prices, or at the prices of a few years ago, no it doesn't look like it would make any sense. But back in the early sixties at their height the 50-D nickel reached $30 per coin. Now thirty dollars doesn't sound like much, but if you look at it in terms or what $30 could PURCHASE back then you would find that $30 back then would be the same as about $300 today. Would you find it strange that someone would fake a $300 coin today? It's the same thing.
<< <i>In 5-1/2 years at ANACS, I never, ever saw a counterfeit 1950-D nickel, just a very few altereations from 1959-D. I never even saw an added mint mark. >>
I'm surprised you even saw 50-D nickels. By the early 70s the prices for 50-D's had fallen to the five to six dollar level. Less then the certification fee.
that these were around in the late-'50's/ early '60's and most of them were caught
and destroyed before being distributed.
I heard of a few being altered from 1958-D. Easy to catch because the star between the date and "Liberty" was larger on the 1958.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
I find it odd, if they exist, that Don Taxay never mentioned them in his 1963 book "Counterfeit, Mis-Struck and Unofficial U.S. Coins".
Is it possible that they were not detected by that time?
I just realized that my copy is signed! It says "11/9/72 / Best Wishes / Happy Birthday / Don Taxay"!
I heard he disappeared in India soon after this. I should go and check the rest of my books...
I specialize in Errors, Minting, Counterfeit Detection & Grading.
Computer-aided grading, counterfeit detection, recognition and imaging.
Jefferson nickels were very popular in the early 1960's. Even circulated sets were avidly collected. Where there is money, there will be crooks to collect it.
<< <i>I have seen one of the 1959-D's with the last "9" shaved down to resemble a "0", as PerryHall mentioned. Not deceptive at all. >>
From the Jeff collection my Father left me:
This one has a couple of die dents. Casting pimples on the left hand side of the Memorial.
Has a very weak almost broken C in America, there is also a common R break among the few examples.
See my comments about die wear.
Genuine coin.
Around 1965 the friend who got me started in collecting bought a BU 1950-D for just over $70. At the time it was the pride of his collection.
Very old thread from 2007. I remember that someone said that there were many conterfeit 1950-D nickels but this has been debunked. I have never seen a counterfeit 1950-D nickel. Altered date yes, counterfeits no.
Found way more MS than VG. Fact.
I found 2 of these, 1 in a NGC slab and another in a PCGS, Atleast one of them was a FS, So, Die deterioration shouldn't be a factor. Right? There were a few others that added the same die pairing in various stages of deterioration, nearly all of them toned golden.
I was leaning towards die deterioration myself when I saw the coin. It is mushy, but one of the examples is a FS.
Could it be a die that wore out fast?
When I was a kid collector in the mid 1960s, the full retail price for a 1950-D nickel was $35. Was that high enough to encourage counterfeiting? To give this a little perspective, a BU, common date $5 Liberty coin sold for that, or a bit less. Yes, I could see turning a 1959-D into a 1950-D by scraping off the tail of the 9, but a full fabrication seems remote.
Another factor is that the vast majority of 1950-D nickels are Mint State. That kind of eliminates cast copies. Making a set of fake dies and striking the coins was an expensive proposition. Making something that was the quality of a Henning nickel would not have fooled enough collectors.
Quite a few 1950-D nickels reached circulation. I found three in the early 1960's in Georgia, far away from Denver, and not all from roll hunting. One showed up in change from a vending machine. Uncirculated rolls were available through 1954 at around $5.00 per roll, so they weren't considered to be a major key at the time and many got spent.
On the other hand, virtually all 2 million 1960 Philadelphia small date cents were captured before reaching circulation. Within a year they were selling for $90 a roll and collectors were actively searching for them in circulation. I found numerous 1960-D but never a single 1960 Philly, and it wasn't for lack of looking.
My Adolph A. Weinman signature
