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Don’t Ya Just Hate It When Your Electro Turns Out Real?
Rittenhouse
Posts: 677 ✭✭✭✭
Was at the Gettysburg show Saturday and bought a Washington Liberty and Security Baker-30 as an electro. Thing was in a stapled 2x2 cardboard holder so I couldn’t see the rim, but a pretty knowledgeable guy had it as an electro. Got it home and, summabeech, stupid thing is real. Oh well, I’ll make a good profit on it, but I still wish it was an electro.
5
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lol
I bought an NGC proof once and sent to PCGS and it came back MS DMPL (it was the same die pair). Don't know if that's going to be good or bad ... yet
So use it to make an electro and then throw away the real one......
So who was correct? What was the coin?
Eh, too much trouble, I’m lazy, I’ll just sell it and buy 2 or 3 electro’s. Still disappointed tho. If I wanted a real one, I woulda bought a really nice one.
Forgive my ignorance can someone explain electro
I bought some altered coins from a dealer once for a club presentation. I presented them to a few knowledgeable folks who thought they were more likely authentic and unmolested. Our hosts thought so too and once they were slabbed I ended up selling them for a nice profit.
Similar problem as the OP. I still had nothing to show the club.
From PCGS as part of a discussion on counterfeiting.
Lance.
https://pcgs.com/news/The-Fundamentals-Of-Counterfeit-Detection--Part-1
Electrotypes
Over the years, electrotypes have been made legitimately and appropriately by museums. Many times museums display an imitation of a rare coin, rather than the real thing, for purposes of security or to show both the obverse and reverse of the coin, and they often create electrotypes for these purposes.
Electrotypes are made by impressing a genuine coin into a soft substance and electroplating the negative impression, thereby creating a positive shell. The process allows only one side to be produced at a time, which is ideal for a museum. With each side independent, the obverse and reverse can be displayed simultaneously. Problems developed for the coin-collecting public when these shells were matched, filled with a metallic composition, then fused to create an entire coin.
While the detail of an electrotype can be excellent, the edge will usually give it away. As with cast copies, many electrotypes have a seam along the outer edge. Also as with casts, electrotypes generally will not "ring." A ring test often is used on coins to determine whether a coin is solid and struck. When it is balanced on the tip of a finger and struck softly with a pen or pencil, a genuine coin usually will produce a high-pitched ring. Most electrotypes and cast copies will merely "thud" or "clunk." Since these pieces are not actually struck, they have relatively little solidity. Many times an electrotype will not be the proper weight; it may be either too light or too heavy, compared with a genuine coin.
A word of caution: some counterfeiters who use electrotypes for the purpose of deception place a sliver of glass between the shells; because of this, plus the metallic substance joining the two halves, a ringing sound can be achieved when this kind of electrotype is tapped.