Does this look fake? $5 indian

I'm pretty sure the "half letters" are just from the foam of the slab covering part of the coin.

 

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Its funny, right after I placed my bid, one of his shill accounts placed a bid raising the price. The current underbidder has 100% bid activity with the seller.

 

Like this one.http://www.ebay.com/itm/1795-FLOWIN...78?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item20f2a2b34e

he has "sold" it 3 times already.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1795-FLOWIN...69?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item486eec67e9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1795-FLOWIN...33?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item20efc0aa69

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1795-FLOWIN...98?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item4871aaf58a

 

This stuff is crazy. Hope it's reported and taken care of. What a piece of work.

 

probable fake, but the 1/2 letters are from the holder overlapping the letters

 

I think anybody buying gold Indian QE's and HE's in holders other than the top 4 (for authentication) is playing numismatic Russian Roulette.

 

The "half letters" are the foam in the holder covering the coin. I have bought a few coins from him, and all were real. I do not think he would be dumb enough to sell fakes on purpose, but he DOES self slab, and over grade.

 

Looks real fishy in the images. I wouldn't buy it from those pics

 

Your probably right , which I thought of 2 posts after my 1st . Still I'd never buy an Indian Gold without out seeing it in hand or in a good slab .

 

I agree with you. I think the images are bad. I believe the coin is probably genuine, but would need better photos to be sure. I also agree that the seller is known for selling coins overgraded and possibly problem coins, but to my knowledge has never sold an actual counterfeit piece.

 

I would NOT call everyone who bids on his items stupid. If you can accurately grade and detect problem coins, you can come out fine. Just don't expect the actual grade to match the tag. There are sometimes unattributed VAMs and other treasures in his listings. And he has a return privilege.

Edited: If you mean this specific coin, then the images are bad enough in this instance, I agree to stay away.

 

Another reason I am pretty sure it is real... his shill bidding. If he really has indeed listed this one several times, and the bid has not gone above his shill, it is because he needs it to go higher to turn a profit. He is known for buying problem coins or ungraded coins, and "grading" them really high. He probably has a lot in that coin. If he knew it was a fake, he would let it go for whatever and not risk getting caught shilling

 

Agreed. But I will note that eBay doesn't really seem to care about shill bidding in my opinion despite the language on their website that they consider it a serious offense. Many that have been caught get a slap on the wrist or a temporary suspension at best. There is another eBayer that is a notorious shiller that has been around for a long time and everyone knows.

To be clear, with this particular seller (of the coin in the instant thread), I cannot prove shill bidding and thus I will refrain from accusing him of it.

 

I've also bought from the seller a whole bunch of times, never had a problem. Of course, it's been awhile since I bought from him. I don't know if the coin was fake or not, just looked like it was scanned to me.

 

FWIW, I think it's fine...

 

I believe that this coin is not genuine. There are some $2-1/2 and $5 Indian Date/MM combinations that were struck in a bright gold finish, but the 1908-S is not one of them. The 1908-S is typically seen in a frosty or satin-like finish,with orange-gold or reddish-gold coloration. Also, the coin depicted lacks some of the details that an original coin would have, as pointed out by Rick, such as the Hawk Feathers dangling below the Crescent Medallian are not properly shaped and defined. The Stars and Lettering running off the edge are due to an off center strike. Because the photos are not that clear I cannot tell if this is a Cast or Struck Counterfeit. What I can discern is that that this coin has almost NO marks in either field, which is unheard of for an Indian Gold Piece that is in apparantly a low AU grade. It looks like this coin, or the "Master" coin used to make the mold (if Cast) or Die (if struck) was highly polished to remove any blemishes in the fields that would have been present on the "unaltered" coin.

 

FAKE!!

 

Remember this is probably a bad scan , so color and some lost detail can be expected . Would I touch this coin , no . But is it fake ? I don't think you can tell from these pics .

 

I think it is less than 50/50 that it is real. Just has the look of a fako. I am leery about gold anyway so I will just buy in real slabs or from people who are well respected by their peers. We have all bought a coin from some tv huckster, a scamming coin shop, or some other double-dealer. It just hurts too much to find a coin you really want only to get it and find that you have been fleeced. My ego is too fragile for that anymore.