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Bad 1909-S VDB on Ebay
deefree49
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The following auction currently running has a counterfeit or altered 1909 as a 1909-S, VDB.
The coin has several obvious problems including:
1. The dot after the D is not centered. It would be on a genuine S-VDB
2. The B in VDB has a straight center bar and it should be slanted
3. The S mint mark looks to be of the type used after 1917 through the 1930's.
4. The surface of the coin looks suspect although I can't say anything for sure about that however it has the possible appearance of a pressing from a counterfeit die. I don't know if that is relevant because the other problems are already disqualifying the coin from being genuine.
Just wanted to give people a head's up and hopefully head off some disappointment or monetary loss.
Lincoln coin lover, especially Matte Proofs
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What are the chances that the seller doesn't know that it's fake?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Hard to say but they handle dozens of coin auctions every day of the week.
Pulled the pics:
Hemispherical Posts - Thanks for posting those images!
Once the bid went over $25.00 I was out of the chase.
Now over $1500 - there is a reason to only buy key dates in reputable TPG holders.
Successful BST Transactions: erwindoc, VTchaser, moursund, robkool, RelicKING, Herb_T, Meltdown, ElmerFusterpuck, airplanenut
atrocious
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15, KJV)
sometimes big ebay sellers have others doing their listings and they are not paying attention.
bob
Auction just ended.
Sold for $1534.00
Probably not the end of that story...
Seller has poor track record. Has been discussed here many times. Raw SVDB, they knew.
Agree. It's hard to believe that any dealer would buy a raw key date coin that is notorious for being heavily counterfeited without first having it closely examined. They either knew it is fake or they are extremely careless or incompetent.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
That cent is certainly a counterfeit.... all the reasons listed in the OP....Someone just got ripped off... Cheers, RickO
The odd thing about this particular example for me was how much it is a "textbook" fake. You could substitute pictures of this coin with the pictures in the major sources I've seen - David Lange's great book "The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents" c1995 and an article in Coin Weekly. https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/counterfeit-coin-09-s-vdb/
Those are both interesting reads should anyone have any remaining curiosity. I would even say these are "mandatory reads" for the serious Lincoln cent collector.