An interesting contemporary counterfeit 1838 half dollar

This one is in rough shape, but still interesting because they imitated the obverse and reverse of two different types. They also got some other stuff wrong, but the "50 cents" instead of "half dol." for this date would have been the most obvious sign.

 

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Pretty cool piece! Where'd you get it?

 

Found it in a foreign coin lot purchased from the UK, of all places.

 

Is it at least silver?

 

Contemporary counterfeits are usually made of base metal or less precious metal than the genuine coins. That is how the counterfeiters made their money - by putting in less that 50 cents worth of silver in a half dollar.

 

Very true.
This particular one is "German silver", which is a copper-nickel-zinc alloy with no actual silver in there at all. Surprisingly, the weight is almost acceptable for the condition.

 

That is what I had first assumed as well. Luckily it's one of the few that is documented. The Davignon reference lists it as Obverse 3/ Reverse E, and also that it's one of the most common types. I learned this from someone that collects contemporary counterfeits, and gifted the coin to them in exchange.

 

I was just glad I could give it to someone that actually appreciates them. I don't collect them and can't legally sell them. Would have been a shame to dump something like this into a bulk junk lot.

 

I'm just so used to not selling them. I'm always paranoid that having a counterfeit, even properly described, can have negative effects on the genuine coins I sell. As a buyer, whenever I see any counterfeit under any circumstance, it makes me more suspicious of the entire inventory.

 

off the subject but look at this counterfeit. what a joke. i would never buy from this site.


http://www.aliexpress.com/product-f...S-MS-EBAY-sold-for-5000-Huge-wholesalers.html

 

how do they get away with that? even the pcgs # is copied and shows as a cert

very unsettling !


looks cheesy

 

Incredible......
I thought that PCGS might like the link so I'm sending it to them.

 

these people need to be shut down

 

That site is notorious. The picture is of a genuine coin, but it's not what you would receive if buying it.

 

I was wondering about that.

but is there a lot of pcgs fake slabs out there ? and what grading service do you think has more fakes, pcgs or ngc ?

I'm still new to collecting and I would hate to be suckered by some one. it makes me want to send all my graded coins in for regrading .

 

At least in his description he does state that it is an imitation, I'm sure to cover himself. But if you didn't think to read that how would you know? Definitely shady.