1886 Double Eagle Gold Coin

Please note that I was spending a lot of time putting together a 100 year set of gold for my kids.
My daughter was born in 1986, and the $20 was a stopper.
Especially since it is a very low mintage and only made in Philadelphia.

Sorry, but it is probably still worth gold.

 

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First off... I am not holding out hope...I appreciate your responses and you have all confirmed even my own suspicions.
Maybe I should have made it more clear, based on all that I read on various sites about the coin, I wanted to know if there was something else I was missing. And that is why I came here.

HOBO helped a lot in his/her explanation of the counterfeit production. That is the type of information I couldn't find in other sites...and explains the possible origins of this coin.

I expect some negative comments, you get that in every site, but that is why I tried to state from the start that I searched all over and things didn't add up for me...knowing this is not a genuine coin, where did it come from then...

A bigger pic is not to disprove you or anyone or give me hope...when I look at the coin and the pic from the site I posted earlier they look very much a like(the scan is not as clear when comparing), so to me the counterfeiter did a very good job...and that just peaked my curiosity to then know its origin.

Anyways...if you have something that goes further what HOBO provided that would be greatly appreciated, otherwise, thanks all for your comments and assistance.

J

 

Unfortunately, counterfeit gold coins are quite common. Some of them are much more deceptive/closer to the real thing than yours, while others are even more obvious, based on just a glance.

 

I think that's just because your eye isn't trained. To me, at least, and to at least Mark and GDJMSP, it was immediately obvious -- even from the scans. I don't know how to describe it any better than I did in a prior post, but it just "doesn't look right" to my eye.

As for its origin, I'm not at all an expert and couldn't even hazard a guess, but if you could somehow post larger/higher quality photos, I'd be happy to pass them along to a few folks who may be able to provide additional insight.

Hope this helps...Mike

 

p.s. if you would like some SUPER LARGE photos of a genuine double eagle to compare your coin to, take a look here:

Obverse: http://www.pbase.com/miker/image/90757427
Reverse: http://www.pbase.com/miker/image/90757427

 

p.p.s. if you are interested in this topic, the PCGS guide to grading and counterfeit detection has some good basic info on counterfeitting. I'd expect a google search on the topic to turn up additoinal info. Lastly, doing a search on this forum as well as the NGC and PCGS forums would likely uncover more info that you could ever read on the topic. All the books that Hobo mentions are invaluable too.

 

...this is a very interesting post.

Just learned about 3 or 4 more counterfeit gold coin books I never knew about.

 

Thanks for the reply. It seems pretty hard to find too. No matches found on ebay or google search.

I'm going to take a conservation, authentication and grading class at the ANA national money show in phoenix in march.

I don't feel like getting another book on counterfeit gold right now for my own sake. I worry too much about every gold coin I have being fake -- even the authentic ones. If only I could use this obession for good...
:headbang:

Oh, apparently it was mentioned GDJMPSP by other poster earlier in the thread.
You misspelled the name which is why no results showed up. I found the book on google here: http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!142063!0#focus

An example of my counterfeit obession going too far is this:
I bought an 1878 gold angel for bullion at the store. It's AU-UNC. I bought it at a pretty reputable shop with a return policy. Someone told me that an authentic piece should have well defined letters on the edge. Well I noticed some letters on the edge appeared to be fat, and some of the stars letters falling off the edge of the coin. I took it to a local coin show and everyone there told me it was real.

 

I'll take that bet.

Scroll up.

Below is a pic of my copy of this book plus a few other reference books on counterfeit coins.

 

ahmmm. i must say i am a proud owner of the book too the 1963 edition. now if i could read it

 

er hobo why not write your own book on fake coins? ill write the foreword for you

 

Awwhh, it's not THAT hard to read. It was printed in Montreal in both English and French. The left side of the page is in English and the right side is in French. If you don't try to read the right side you will be OK.

No, I don't think so. I am still a student and am always learning. I find counterfeit and altered coins fascinating. But I must admit that I do have some ideas for a book or maybe a booklet or handbook on counterfeit and altered coins for the casual collector. Ya never know.

 

Please do a good job and write a book that can rake on babe ruth in baseball we dont want to be generating justa nything. And dont owwry about sales my foreword will be the home run for you

On a serious note was the book published after 1963. i am a YN at heart so these old books kind of scare me dont get the feeling with old coins though.

 

Yes, my book was published in 1963. That is not that old to me as I in 3rd grade then. And the information contained in the book does not go out of date.