I'm going to a state coin show in a couple of weeks and I was needing some opinions?

bosco5041

I'm going to the Indy coin club show Nov.1st. I was wanting to buy a couple or so generic gold coins. I will buy PCGS graded coins but with all the talk of counterfeit coins and counterfeit slabs it has me a little concerned. I'm not exactly a newby in coins but I know the Chinese are getting pretty good (or so I have read) in their craft of making the coins and the slabs. My question is: What are the chances of getting a very well made gold coin (fake) in a very well made fake PCGS holder? Do most dealers know the latest fakes out their? For the record I will be looking for a $5 liberty and $10 liberty.

jp84

Look for a well-established dealer with a good reputation and you should be just fine buying from them. On the remote chance that it is fake, you will get your money back from a reputable dealer. At a smaller show, it is the real amateur dealers that sometimes have fake stuff and they dont even know it - I would stay away from buying very expensive coins from a small-time dealer unless you have a lot more confidence about what you are buying.

ricko

Stick with the established dealers and discuss guarantee program..... definitely go for TPG slabs... Cheers, RickO

bosco5041

I do try to stick with reputable dealers but would someone take an educated guess of how many fake coins in reputable fake holders would be at say a show of say 80 to 100 dealers. What I am trying to figure out is how common it is to find one. For instance would there be just 1 or 2 or are they getting to be dozens at each show. What kind of mine field is out there?

DaveG

Well, no one can take an "educated" guess on this subject unless someone looks at each and every slabbed gold coin for sale at the show and becomes educated - which, of course, isn't going to happen.

So, let's consider the problem in light of what we do know:

First, consider the hypothetical problem of getting your change in counterfeit currency: We know that coin dealers handle lots and lots of currency and most can identify counterfeit currency the second they receive it by the feel of the paper or the color of the ink. Is there a group of people anywhere better at spotting counterfeit currency? Well, maybe the head teller at a busy bank branch. I suggest that anyone trying to pass counterfeit currency would not try it in a room full of guys who are experts at spotting counterfeits.

Now, consider the actual problem of a counterfeit gold coin in a counterfeit slab. We know that coin dealers handle lots and lots of slabbed and raw gold coins - some more than others. Dealers who handle a lot of gold are always on the lookout for counterfeit coins - they see them, especially the dollars and $3s. Dealer also handle lots of slabs. They would probably spot a counterfeit coin first and then determine if it was in a counterfeit slab.

Again, I suggest that anyone trying to pass either counterfeit coins or counterfeit slabs would do it somewhere else than in a room full of experts. Also, the world of coin dealers is very small and one's reputation is paramount - no dealer would want the stain on his reputation that would result from his selling a counterfeit slab. Of course he would buy it back, but the other dealers would still talk about him. (Who knows, someone might even post about it on this forum - and then all he** would break loose!)

So, therefore, if I were looking to buy some slabbed gold, I'd go to the guy with lots of slabbed gold in his case. He's probably an expert at identifying counterfeit gold coins, regardless whether they're raw or in a slab.

I would probably not go to the guy who has a case full of cheap raw world coins and one piece of slabbed US gold. He's probably not an expert at identifying counterfeit gold coins.

edited to add: Despite all the talk of counterfeit slabs, I've yet to see one at a show or even hear of one that was found at a show - except, of course, for the guy who bought what he thought was a bargain on eBay and who tried to sell it at a show. And, "that guy" we hear about all the time!

bosco5041

DaveG, good advice and I think you pretty well answered my question.