Is it possible to somehow open a coin cache and replace the coin?

rec78 · July 4, 2013 5:59PM

I don't know if it is possible, but could it happen? I bought a coin that I thought was overgraded, an 1851 quarter(a tough coin-worth the price i paid even though possibly overgaded) . It was a pcgs cache. When I went to break it out,I just twisted it with my hands and the case broke(or came apart?) easily right along the seem. I could have replaced the coin and resealed it. You could not tell it was cracked unless you looked real close and were inspecting the cache. I do not know if this was the case but i have my suspicions. Suppose someone took a thin saw and sawed a cache right along the seem? Replace a real coin with a counterfeit or altered date or added mint mark. Then reseal the cache. Possible? Thanks for any opinions on this.

Bob

magikbilly · July 4, 2013 6:19PM

Did you You could not tell it was cracked unless you looked real close and were inspecting the cache?

Just saying

It is my understanding, from reading these boards, that what you suggest can and has been done.

Best wishes,
Eric

Jcarney · July 4, 2013 8:54PM

Sure it can happen and from your description, sounds like that's exactly what happened.

Never heard a slab called a "cache". Is this a new term?

magikbilly · July 4, 2013 9:05PM

<< Sure it can happen and from your description, sounds like that's exactly what happened.

Never heard a slab called a "cache". Is this a new term? >>

I think that is what the earliest ANACS "slabs" ("wallets") were called back in the mid 80's.

Eric

Jcarney · July 4, 2013 10:03PM

<< 

<< Sure it can happen and from your description, sounds like that's exactly what happened.

Never heard a slab called a "cache". Is this a new term? >>

I think that is what the earliest ANACS "slabs" ("wallets") were called back in the mid 80's.

Eric >>

Thanks. Learn something new every day.

ricko · July 4, 2013 11:34PM

Certainly can be done and likely has been done.... Cheers, RickO

LindeDad · July 5, 2013 1:00AM

More likely to of just been an outright counterfeit job IMO. Fake slabs with fake coins inside have been on the market for a couple of years now.

tahoe98 · July 5, 2013 1:24AM

...just curious. was this from the bay?

AUandAG · July 5, 2013 1:26AM

Where are the pics?

bob

rec78 · July 5, 2013 2:46AM

<< ...just curious. was this from the bay?

>>

No. I bought it at a coin show.

Sorry no pics at this time. I think I kept it, but may have thrown it out. This happened a few years ago. I do not think the cache was a counterfeit. The coin is real and is in my collection.

Thanks, Bob

LindeDad · July 5, 2013 3:17AM

Too much what if,maybe, and I don't really know in this to draw any conclusion now. Could it be possible it was a date and mint that is known to be softly struck and you mistook that to mean the coin was over graded?

rec78 · July 5, 2013 3:22AM

<< Too much what if,maybe, and I don't really know in this to draw any conclusion now. Could it be possible it was a date and mint that is known to be softly struck and you mistook that to mean the coin was over graded? >>

No.
Sorry I did not mean this thread to be about that coin per se. I just wanted to know if it was possible to open a slab, replace the coin, and possibly be almost undetectable.

Hay, I just had a thought--can slabs be steamed open?

LindeDad · July 5, 2013 3:48AM

Ok almost anything is possible and maybe this has happened, but I think it is more probable to get the whole unit as a counterfeit than your scenario.

UtahCoin · July 5, 2013 3:49AM

<< Certainly can be done and likely has been done.... Cheers, RickO >>

Ditto here.

On occasion when I've cracked open a slab, I've seen the slab pop open at the seam once or twice.

keets · July 5, 2013 3:53AM

similar scam...................

back when Silver ran up in the 1980's the Brown Box 1973 Eisenhower Dollars were worth many times what the other dates were selling for, probably close to $40 if not more. some unsavory collectors and dealers were prying open the cases and substituting the cheap 1973 Clad Dollar in its place.

-----another scam I've heard of but never seen is done with a Capital holder----two coins are used such as a 1916 Mercury Dime for the obverse and a common "D" mint for the reverse.

renomedphys · July 5, 2013 4:00AM

I imagine that a clever theif might substitute a grade lower coin if givn the opportunity.

Coinosaurus · July 5, 2013 6:38AM

The exact same thing happened to me with an NGC slab. I've opened and closed the thing many times and the slab still snaps shut. It holds an 1836 steam press token in unc. In theory I could put a lower grade specimen in there, but it's more of a curiosity to leave it the way it is.

RedTiger · July 5, 2013 7:03AM

Yes, it is possible, though difficult with most slabs. There was a dealer (!) that was doing this with the heat sealed ICCS (Canadian) packets. When ANACS relaunched, their early holders were not sealed tightly and a gentle twist could get them open. There was another documented scam with big two holders, where the holders were cut in two, and sometimes a coin was also cut in two so as to get a rare mintmark onto a common coin. There was also a huge problem with U.S. mint issue silver proof sets. Scammers were taking out the silver coins and replacing them with clad and then selling them as silver sets.

Is it possible to somehow open a coin cache and replace the coin?

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