Sometimes a fake can be more interesting than a real one

Greeniejr

Some contemporary counterfeits I found laying around the store.

STONE

Very nice Lead counterfeits. Very typical dates for counterfeits since small denomination coinage was drying up due to Civil War era issues.

ricko

Not something I would acquire... but interesting anyway. Cheers, RickO

1897smorgan

As someone who is an absolute novice, my question is what ( in laymans terms ) is the dead giveaway that these are fakes?

Greeniejr

<< <i>As someone who is an absolute novice, my question is what ( in laymans terms ) is the dead giveaway that these are fakes? >>



There are many things wrong with the coin. Clearly you cannot tell from the pictures but the metal is wrong (and therefore the weight) and there are casting lines around the edge.

JamesMurray

I would think everything about them screams fake when in hand. Colour won't be right , the feel won't be right , weight/density can't be right , i'd like to think i can tell the difference between lead and .900 silver : )

SaorAlba

I find them fascinating. They say a lot about the era in which they were created - frankly those fakes pictured above are a bit better than the garden variety. But they are still displaying a surface that suggests that they have been cast.

johnny9434

i hope you put on gloves before handleing that lead

Elcontador

The best fake I ever saw was when I was in Vietnam. I bought an 1875 CC Trade $ over there (no, didn't pay much for it). Most of the T$s in Asia I've seen were 1875 S, which you can get for pennies, and are obvious fakes. This one was different.

I brought it back and it fooled a number of dealers. The diagnostics were fine, and so was the weight. The only give-away was when we bounced it on the floor (the coin was well circulated, so another ding or two wouldn't have affected it much, if at all). The 'ping' indicated that the metal content was not right. If the metal content was okay, this coin imo probably would have graded if I let it get to that point.