1977/6 Lincoln Cent Counterfeit anybody seen one.
giantsfan20
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Doing a google search and this was only article on it.
https://www.coinworld.com/voices/bill-gibbs/2017/07/for_a_brief_timeth.html
Did any survive or did the Secret Service get the all? The mint sure jumped the gun calling it real .
If somebody does have one is it legal to own.
Wonder what the jail time was along with names of person as not mentioned
2
Comments
Yes.
Interesting - not something I was aware of.
Very interesting story. Thanks for posting it.
Nice story, thanks for sharing it.
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I handled the piece while it was at Coin World. Bill Gibbs was working for me in Collectors Clearinghouse.
I am familiar with the false die overstrike method that the Mint said was used to make the piece. I looked for, and could not find, the doubling that the Mint said it found elsewhere, or any other indication of alteration. To be fair, this was before I was trained as a professional authenticator.
The Mint did not change its determination of the piece until after our story hit the streets. As soon as Fred Weinberg saw it he called me and asked if it was true. I said it was, and he put out an offer on the coin dealer teletype system offering (IIRC) $100 for a BU specimen. When word of this spread the Mint suddenly changed its story.
I decided that when the coin came back to Coin World, as Director Mary Brooks had personally promised Margo it would, I was going to fly it to Colorado Springs to get ANACS's opinion. However, as the story says, the Mint later broke its word and refused to return the coin.
FWIW I had called the owner before we sent it to the Mint Lab in Washington and obtained his permission to do so, after telling him that the Mint Director herself had guaranteed its return. After the Mint changed its mind the Secret Service descended upon him and obtained a confession that he had made it, but to the best of my knowledge never actually arrested him. He was a German-born national who had grown up in Nazi Germany, and perhaps he thought it was not safe to argue with the S.S. He was given probation as part of a plea deal. I know nothing about the second person Bill mentions.
After 40+ years of reflection I would have to say that the piece probably was an alteration, but I will never be 100% sure. I sure would have liked to have gotten that third opinion from ANACS.
TD
Wow, interesting story !!!
I wonder if a photo of the complete "coin" exits? If so that might give us a better understanding of how the piece was fabricated.
Interesting story... It would be great to find one in circulation... though it could never be publicized...The article gives no indication if any were put in circulation....probably not, since the maker(s) likely intended to sell them once the market was advised of authenticity. @CaptHenway's enigmatic 'Yes' reply has me curious though. Cheers, RickO
The Mint/Secret Service said that the man had created a false 1977 obverse die by pressing a 1977 cent into a piece of computer printed circuit board, and then pressing a 1976 cent into that impression. The second 7 was thus embossed over the 6.
If this is indeed what happened, it was done without damaging or deforming any other part of the coin, as far as I could tell. As the story says, three Mint experts could not tell either.