Home› U.S. Coin Forum
Options

A phony Bay Bridge?

BarberianBarberian Posts: 4,643 ✭✭✭✭✭
Looks fake to me.

Conterfeit Bay Bridge?

imageimage

I don't recall ever seeing a fake commemorative.

Comments

  • Options
    MICHAELDIXONMICHAELDIXON Posts: 6,763 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What makes you think this is fake?
    Thanksgiving 2026 National Battlefield Coin Show November 27 & 28, 2026 at the Eisenhower Hotel Ballroom, Gettysburg, PA. No Early Bird passes for this show. WWW.AmericasCoinShows.com
  • Options
    MedalCollectorMedalCollector Posts: 2,103 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: MICHAELDIXON
    What makes you think this is fake?


    The surfaces are porous and the details lack sharpness.

    It also doesn't look to be silver, in my opinion.
  • Options
    lkeigwinlkeigwin Posts: 16,895 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Letters and numerals look suspicious...kinda narrow, don't you think?

    Lance.



    imageimage
  • Options
    DNADaveDNADave Posts: 7,350 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don't like the orange peel surface or the 'grooves' down the middle of the "UNITED" and "STATES".
  • Options
    WeissWeiss Posts: 9,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot slab.
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • Options
    gripgrip Posts: 9,962 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: GoldenEgg
    Originally posted by: MICHAELDIXON
    What makes you think this is fake?


    The surfaces are porous and the details lack sharpness.

    It also doesn't look to be silver, in my opinion.



    image
  • Options
    gripgrip Posts: 9,962 ✭✭✭✭✭
    and the cables are not straight under bay bridge.
  • Options
    WeissWeiss Posts: 9,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: grip
    and the cables are not straight under gay bridge.


    Under the what? image
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • Options
    gripgrip Posts: 9,962 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Typo...sorryimage
  • Options
    woogloutwooglout Posts: 200 ✭✭✭
    Aren't facial features one of thing hardest things to reproduce, not just for counterfeiters? Compare the bears' muzzles (aka snouts).
  • Options
    ElKevvoElKevvo Posts: 4,199 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Looks fake to me, bad lettering, uneven rims, weird execution of the details, etc. although why anyone would want to fake a Bay Bridge is beyond me. I suppose if you were trying to reproduce a complicated coin to perfect your process this would be a good one. Still the results are anything less than elegant. But, according to the seller, it is high grade! So maybe that is what a truly high grade one looks like and all of the MS 66, 76, etc are just not stuck correctly? image



    K
    ANA LM
  • Options
    jclovescoinsjclovescoins Posts: 2,038 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Fake
  • Options
    drwstr123drwstr123 Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Porosity of the rims show casting.
  • Options
    LindeDadLindeDad Posts: 18,766 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Not even a chance it was made at the mint.
  • Options
    shorecollshorecoll Posts: 5,447 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It's the famous mushy snout strike variety. image
    ANA-LM, NBS, EAC
  • Options
    braddickbraddick Posts: 25,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Any speculation on whether this is a contemporary or modern counterfeit?
    I'd think perhaps it may have some value if it is the former vs the latter.
  • Options
    Insider2Insider2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The OP's coin looks like a crude fake that anyone could tell for all the reasons given. The fields alone look terrible...the ten foot pole "look."



    Now consider this:



    The photo of the OP's coin is horrible. Compare the posting of the unknown coin with the sharp, detailed photo of the genuine example. If the original photo was that good we may be able to nail this one. IMO, coins that have been whizzed resemble the OP's coin. Design elements become crude and deformed as we see here.



    C/F's in this series have been around for decades. A Bay Bridge C/F does not ring a bell so if this coin is a fake it is one of the newer efforts. If the coin's surface is original (as struck), than it probably is bad based on its appearance. If the surface is not, there is a good possibility the coin is genuine.

  • Options
    FredWeinbergFredWeinberg Posts: 6,046 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It looks 'whizzed' to me
    Retired Collector & Dealer in Major Mint Error Coins & Currency since the 1960's.Co-Author of Whitman's "100 Greatest U.S. Mint Error Coins", and the Error Coin Encyclopedia, Vols., III & IV. Retired Authenticator for Major Mint Errors for PCGS. A 50+ Year PNG Member.A full-time numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022.
  • Options
    3keepSECRETif2rDEAD3keepSECRETif2rDEAD Posts: 4,285 ✭✭✭✭✭
    image
  • Options
    CommemKingCommemKing Posts: 2,202 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Looks like a fake to me. A good one but fake.
  • Options
    pmacpmac Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭
    Why would anyone go to the effort to counterfeit this coin? Only this would be sought after by those who collect fakes.
    Paul
  • Options
    roadrunnerroadrunner Posts: 28,374 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Acid dipped, cleaned, whizzed, worn, or whatever. Not convinced it's fake. Though the some of the bridge suspension details don't seem to be visible inside the peripheral lettering.
    Barbarous Relic No More, LSCC -GoldSeek--shadow stats--SafeHaven--321gold
  • Options
    johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 34,358 ✭✭✭✭✭
    that might be something id stay away from until i saw it in hand. just saying.
  • Options
    BarberianBarberian Posts: 4,643 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Originally posted by: Insider2
    The OP's coin looks like a crude fake that anyone could tell for all the reasons given. The fields alone look terrible...the ten foot pole "look."

    Now consider this:

    The photo of the OP's coin is horrible. Compare the posting of the unknown coin with the sharp, detailed photo of the genuine example. If the original photo was that good we may be able to nail this one. IMO, coins that have been whizzed resemble the OP's coin. Design elements become crude and deformed as we see here.

    C/F's in this series have been around for decades. A Bay Bridge C/F does not ring a bell so if this coin is a fake it is one of the newer efforts. If the coin's surface is original (as struck), than it probably is bad based on its appearance. If the surface is not, there is a good possibility the coin is genuine.


    I don't know much about whizzed coins other than what I've read here and there. How would whizzing create the orange peel surface and choppy waters found on this coin or the gross deformation of the Bay Bridge, particularly the cables?
  • Options
    dcarrdcarr Posts: 10,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I think it may be a genuine coin which has been heavily wire-brushed and re-circulated.
  • Options
    BarberianBarberian Posts: 4,643 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Would sandblasting do this? I look at the contrast between the smoothness of the bear and the orange peel surface of the fields and think the bear was covered up while the fields may have been sandblasted. That might explain the cables being pushed over flat, the thinness of the lettering, and the scrapes on the ships and other devices.

    It's a very strange coin.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file