Bar copper on eBay -- yay or nay?

jonathanb · January 23, 2012 8:16AM

This one closed on eBay today, listed in the wrong category and with a bad description. Pretty good photos, though.

After thinking about it for a while, I convinced myself it wasn't genuine. What says the wisdom of the board? (Bonus points for specifics. Arguments based on "it couldn't possibly be real" are somewhat less than convincing...)

Russ · January 23, 2012 8:29AM

It couldn't possibly be real.

Russ, NCNE

jonathanb · January 23, 2012 8:30AM

Gee, thanks, Russ.

kaz · January 23, 2012 8:31AM

I vote fake. compare the shapes and positions of the letters and their parts to this one:

CRO archives bar copper

edix2001 · January 23, 2012 8:34AM

The dentils are completely wrong.

LanceNewmanOCC · January 23, 2012 8:34AM

.
"Ho hum, just another boring day here at CRO"

nice to see a sense of humor over there

as to the authenticity of that item with my limited experience i'd say 50/50 from images alone
.
EDITED

<< <i>The dentils are completely wrong. >>

AUandAG · January 23, 2012 8:36AM

looks cast to me.

bob

JamesMurray · January 23, 2012 8:43AM

The rare coins always show up in the wrong catagory on the bay , have a look through bizarre items sometime. That would be the first red flag.

comma · January 23, 2012 8:45AM

Fake from what I know.

DavidLawrence · January 23, 2012 8:47AM

No good IMHO.

Timbuk3 · January 23, 2012 8:47AM

It looks definitely cast !!!

coinsarefun · January 23, 2012 8:47AM

Not sure , I laid yours over a real one and yours seams to have thicker lettering and the bottom serif of the S is not tilted.
But.............who am I

I am probably wrong, the overlapping letters are correct.

Maybe real, maybe electrotype

If its real and you picked it up for cheap.......score!!!

Bochiman · January 23, 2012 9:05AM

Looking pretty fake, and cast, to me.

ColonialCoinUnion · January 23, 2012 9:09AM

It's not even close.

Lakesammman · January 23, 2012 9:25AM

Here's what a good copy looks like.

ColonialCoinUnion · January 23, 2012 11:07AM

<< <i>Here's what a good copy looks like.

>>

That's a well made Bolen copy, but with the S passing over the A it is not going to be confused for a real Bar (which is why they were made that way).

NewEnglandRarities · January 23, 2012 2:40PM

As for the op Bar Cent pictured, that piece is 100% a more modern replica.

As for the Bolen Bar Cent pictured, as CCU stated, the S passes over the A, made as such to not be confused with an original at the time of manufacture. Another telltale sign of a Bolen Bar Cent is all examples are struck slightly off center to the right so the denticles are not visible from 1-6 o'clock on the obverse.

BTW, very nice Bolen Bar Lakesammman!

Edited to add, either they were struck slightly off center, never had the denticles to begin with, or more likely they were struck on planchets that were too small for the die. Either way, every one shows the same missing denticles on the right hand side of the obverse

Bar copper on eBay -- yay or nay?

Comments

Leave a Comment