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True or false: Forgers always leave tell-tale evidence of their work.

LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,656 ✭✭✭✭✭
Have been enjoying some old Numismatist magazines. This quote from 11/1967.

"There have always been wishful thinkers who believed that forgers always make enough mistakes in their work to permit detection.
In the past most products of forgery generally have left tell-tale evidence but a substantial number have escaped recognition."

In the past 45 years, has the ability to detect fakes (esp. TPG's) advanced faster than the forgers skills in making them??
"My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.

Comments

  • SonorandesertratSonorandesertrat Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The late Thomas Hoving (former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC) once noted that the really good fake paintings are still hanging on collectors' walls. The same is true of coins. I have seen at least a couple of dozen 18th-19th-century coins that left me queasy---I was sure that they were worked on, but couldn't figure out how. I have had some knowledgeable dealers tell me similar stories. The TPGs no longer guarantee the color on coppers, for the simple reason that the coin docs have gotten too good in the recoloring game.
    Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA

    RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'

    CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
  • braddickbraddick Posts: 25,082 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don't know... until the forger of the 1959 Wheatback cent confessed it even had the Secret Service on the fence as to authenticity.
  • JamesMJamesM Posts: 757


    << <i>The late Thomas Hoving (former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC) once noted that the really good fake paintings are still hanging on collectors' walls. The same is true of coins. I have seen at least a couple of dozen 18th-19th-century coins that left me queasy---I was sure that they were worked on, but couldn't figure out how. The TPGs no longer guarantee the color on coppers, for the simple reason that the coin docs have gotten too good in the recoloring game. >>



    I thought that the reason they do not is due to the fact that “red” can/do change in the holders due outside forces.
    --- Mayer Numismatics --- Collectors Corner --- (888) 822 - COIN ---
  • SonorandesertratSonorandesertrat Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The issue isn't just careless storage. Many recolored-red coppers eventually turn brown or funky, splotchy colors. I have been burned a few times (one, recently slabbed, turned 5-6 months after I bought it), and I am very fussy about how I store my copper coins.
    Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA

    RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'

    CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
  • UtahCoinUtahCoin Posts: 5,366 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I don't know... until the forger of the 1959 Wheatback cent confessed it even had the Secret Service on the fence as to authenticity. >>



    Are you thinking of Mark Hofman who claimed to have made it? I don't known if their is any evidence he did it other than he claimed to have made it. Either way, that is a fascinating coin.

    Here is my Mark Hofmann original. For a guy who could counterfeit so many signatures and documents his regular handwriting is abysmal.

    image
    I used to be somebody, now I'm just a coin collector.
    Recipient of the coveted "You Suck" award, April 2009 for cherrypicking a 1833 CBHD LM-5, and April 2022 for a 1835 LM-12, and again in Aug 2012 for picking off a 1952 FS-902.
  • 19Lyds19Lyds Posts: 26,497 ✭✭✭✭
    Can anybody say $100 Super Bills?
    I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.



    The name is LEE!
  • LindeDadLindeDad Posts: 18,766 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Lets assume that the best forgers are never known. Then where are we.

    Was there someone somewhere that was better or at least not as vain as Omega?

    image
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,485 ✭✭✭✭✭
    By definition a perfect counterfeit would be undetectable and therefore it would never be recognized as such.

    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

  • shorecollshorecoll Posts: 5,447 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The $100's and Operation Bernhard, both were that good. People wonder about Chinese counterfeits...let's see original presses we sold them...oh, they can't make die steel so let's sell surplus die steel....hmmm!!!
    ANA-LM, NBS, EAC
  • lkeigwinlkeigwin Posts: 16,895 ✭✭✭✭✭
    As Perry says, a perfect counterfeit cannot, by definition, be detected. It becomes genuine.

    So I suppose the question is, can there be such a thing?
    Lance.
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,656 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Interesting comments BUT this is the US coin forum. image

    I'm looking forward to reading the John Ford book - anyone know when it's coming out.

    Scary how fakes could be made to appear legitimate if you have the right credentials.....or financial motives.
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
  • ShamikaShamika Posts: 18,785 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>True or false: Forgers always leave tell-tale evidence of their work. >>


    FALSE!

    Buyer and seller of vintage coin boards!
  • SonorandesertratSonorandesertrat Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Lakesamman,
    I spoke with Karl Moulton a couple of weeks ago, and he said that additional information he is adding to his manuscript has meant that the projected publication date will be pushed back somewhat---he sounded like sometime this summer.
    Member: EAC, NBS, C4, CWTS, ANA

    RMR: 'Wer, wenn ich schriee, hörte mich denn aus der Engel Ordnungen?'

    CJ: 'No one!' [Ain't no angels in the coin biz]
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,485 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>True or false: Forgers always leave tell-tale evidence of their work. >>


    FALSE! >>



    Are you saying that it's possible there are some counterfeit coins in PCGS slabs?

    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

  • magikbillymagikbilly Posts: 6,780


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>True or false: Forgers always leave tell-tale evidence of their work. >>


    FALSE! >>



    Are you saying that it's possible there are some counterfeit coins in PCGS slabs? >>




    Has that ever happened BEFoRE? image

    Eric
  • GrumpyEdGrumpyEd Posts: 4,749 ✭✭✭
    On some fakes they might leave evidence but it might not get noticed for a long time.
    Didn't the micro O $ take a long time to get recognized as fakes?
    Ed
  • RedTigerRedTiger Posts: 5,608
    False. Fakes have made their way past the experts. One expert talked about a particular fake that was only detected when another coin surfaced with identical markers. This meant that two fakes had been made from the same set of fake dies with identical tell tale signs. If there was only one fake made from the fake die, it was good enough to pass muster. With two fakes found, and the nature of the markers, it became obvious they were both fakes.

  • magikbillymagikbilly Posts: 6,780


    << <i>On some fakes they might leave evidence but it might not get noticed for a long time.
    Didn't the micro O $ take a long time to get recognized as fakes? >>



    Exactly! you saw my tiny "o" image

    Eric
  • fastfreddiefastfreddie Posts: 2,944 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Just the ones that have been identified. image
    It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
  • CoinosaurusCoinosaurus Posts: 9,652 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Just the ones that have been identified. image >>



    Precisely. For all we know, most of the coins circulating in the rare coin market are all fake, and are impossible to detect.

    Think about it. There are a lot of coins for which the number of dies shipped doesn't match the known number of die varieties.

    There could have been some master craftsman guy in the 19th c. who could cut dies of the same quality as the Mint.

    Now time to take off my conspiracy hat image
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,656 ✭✭✭✭✭
    RedTiger.

    Are you referring to the Clark Gruber $20?? Many were in TPG holders until Regulated found the famous "repeating mark".
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
  • Here's an update on the John J. Ford, Jr. and the "Franklin Hoard" book. For those interested, the hardbound book is 8 1/2 x11.

    The text is written and the first 625 pages are completely done!

    With that said, I'm trying to keep it under 800 pages total (yes, I have some Bowers books on the shelf, so I know how heavy they get). Still putting the final segments together as of this writing.

    Plans are to have this available before the 2012 ANA convention (but, we all know how plans can change). The lengthy wait will be immediately forgotten once the book comes out.

    There's plenty of history contained in this work, much of it previously unknown; and it needs to be presented objectively. Trying to validate activity is difficult when you are dealing with one-of-kind fake items and forgeries; especially when several of these are now in the National Numismatic Collection housed at the Smithsonian Institution.

    There are people still alive that have vested interests in the outcome. The background must be truthfully and respectfully presented, and most of us know how strong personalities can make things quite difficult.

    Somewhat surprisingly, nobody has created any problems; and those involved have been extremely helpful. These are the leading experts that I'm talking about. Find out who, when the book comes out.

    Announcements for when the "John J. Ford, Jr. and the Franklin Hoard" book will be available, will be in the weekely trade papers and in The Numismatist, etc.

    So stay tuned...

    BTW, Ford and Franklin were not forgers. Read the book to find out the sources.
    PM me if you are looking for U.S. auction catalogs
  • EagleEyeEagleEye Posts: 7,677 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The next issue of Longacre's Ledger will have a fake 1872 Indian Cent that got graded. It would have fooled most people.
    Rick Snow, Eagle Eye Rare Coins, Inc.Check out my new web site:
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,656 ✭✭✭✭✭
    stmint:

    Can't wait to start reading it. image

    If it's anything like Bowers California book, it might need to be 2 volumes...... image
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
  • ebaybuyerebaybuyer Posts: 2,984 ✭✭✭
    by "forgeries being made" do you mean people that are currently producing counterfeits or currently doctoring/forging existing coins ?
    regardless of how many posts I have, I don't consider myself an "expert" at anything
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The best may never be detected..... Cheers, RickO
  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 31,919 ✭✭✭✭✭
    only the forger would recognize his own work. jmo ( its getting to good out there )
  • pmacpmac Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The best may never be detected..... Cheers, RickO >>


    Then they become "authentic".
    Paul
  • LakesammmanLakesammman Posts: 17,656 ✭✭✭✭✭
    by "forgeries being made" do you mean people that are currently producing counterfeits or currently doctoring/forging existing coins ?

    The article, written in 1967, was about the methods used to make fake coins, not the doctoring of existing coins.
    "My friends who see my collection sometimes ask what something costs. I tell them and they are in awe at my stupidity." (Baccaruda, 12/03).I find it hard to believe that he (Trump) rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. (Putin 1/17) Gone but not forgotten. IGWT, Speedy, Bear, BigE, HokieFore, John Burns, Russ, TahoeDale, Dahlonega, Astrorat, Stewart Blay, Oldhoopster, Broadstruck, Ricko, Big Moose, Cardinal.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,485 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>only the forger would recognize his own work. jmo ( its getting to good out there ) >>



    How would he recognize his own fake coins unless he put some small marker on it? If he did mark his fakes, others would eventually discover the deception. Right?

    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

  • RegulatedRegulated Posts: 2,994 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Just noticed this thread, and I have to say that I believe that there are "tells" on most of the forgeries made through the 1980s that I have seen -certainly the Ford-related stuff. However, some of the Chinese stuff being made now with presses that used to belong to the US government may eventually be indistinguishable from the real thing.

    What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
  • renomedphysrenomedphys Posts: 3,941 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The next issue of Longacre's Ledger will have a fake 1872 Indian Cent that got graded. It would have fooled most people. >>


    I believe the operative phrase here is "most people"
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,993 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Evidently they do, or nobody would know.
  • CoinflipCoinflip Posts: 849 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I don't know... until the forger of the 1959 Wheatback cent confessed it even had the Secret Service on the fence as to authenticity. >>



    Are you thinking of Mark Hofman who claimed to have made it? I don't known if their is any evidence he did it other than he claimed to have made it. Either way, that is a fascinating coin.

    Here is my Mark Hofmann original. For a guy who could counterfeit so many signatures and documents his regular handwriting is abysmal.

    image >>



    Ive studies handwriting analysis and that is almost on par with those that were diagnosed with psychological disorders lol
    SMILEFORSOMECHANGE LLC
    RAD#306

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