Just got the elusive 1916 Barber Half....

Until now I didn't know that there are other pieces besides the peace $$

 

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Oh, that wasn't directed at you personally. So I meant no offense. Carr's Re-struck the Bicentennial quarter, half dollar, a 1963 D Kennedy, to name a few. as you see, many think they're copies, or straight counterfeit. Many opinions. I just say, collect what you like.

 

I'm in for a couple
It's true, this same conversation seems to come up everytime Carr issues something new. He does a great job on these pieces and fake, counterfeit, facsimile or artistic recreation, I'm glad to have mine before sell-out.

 

How do you find this guy and the coins he makes? Ebay?

 

It's a secret.....you have to know somebody that knows somebody.
But fortunately, you are on the right site for that
http://www.dc-coin.com/

 

I'd buy 3.

 

I love this quote on his site...Do not attempt to use these as legal tender. This product is NOT endorsed or approved by the US Mint, US Treasury, or US Government

In other words...They are counterfeits!..

 

Only 34 struck so far
http://www.moonlightmint.com/blog_14.htm

 

I've not questioned that he has talent, but my biggest objection is that his talent is misdirected. Just imagine where the world of art would be if everyone did nothing but copy the Mona Lisa.

Chris

 

What Carr is doing is legal but I'm not saying I agree with it.
I do give him credit for being really good at it. He rebuilt a pieces of junk press and makes his own dies. He knows the laws and stays out of trouble. I think if he had done this 50 years back he would have gone to jail. Crazy stuff.

 

Is it legal to purposely deface a buffalo nickel to create something which never existed? That is exactly the same thing Dan Carr does.

 

Again, this is not all he does.

The US Mint has produced State Quarters with two of his designs; he submitted a number of other designs which they didn't select. He's produced a wide range of fantasy pieces (like the Amero series), non-monetary tokens, and even outright parody designs.

The restruck fantasy issues are the ones that I find most engaging, and I'm apparently not the only one who likes them. But the controversy over these pieces shouldn't overshadow the original designs that he has done, and continues to produce.

 

It can't be a copy since an original never existed.

Remember, that in 1916 the design was changed to the Walking Liberty half $.

 

I think you're a bit inexperienced in the coin collecting world. I do collect high end Morgan dollars that are slabbed, and lots of other silver coins. Do I think that Mr. Carr's are counterfeit? No, and I was skeptical at first. They are fantasy coins, and are not sold as genuine 1916 non-existent Barber Halves--that would be deceptive. They're advertised as restrikes, and slabbed by ANACS as "tokens." There is nothing to stop you from buying your own press, quantity of older US coins, and doing an artistic restrike. The problem would be selling it as if it were a genuine Barber half, which it is NOT, and advertised as such. Obviously, Mr. Carr's lawyers have investigated the counterfeit laws extensively, and find that this meets the specifications of the law.

Initially, I was critical of his work, until I saw it. I even posted several comments on multiple threads that I thought he was doing cheap reproductions. Daniel Carr posted here, and there was a long and intricate discussion. My decision was to see for myself, and after ordering a few Carr pieces, I find his work to be of the highest quality, and extremely interesting. My suggestion to the people who don't like his work is NOT to buy it. A number of us do collect his coins (tokens, or whatever you want to call them), and know that they are fine art. I definitely did a 180 degree turn-around on his work, and now purchase it, and wrote a public apology to Daniel Carr, stating that his work was of high quality, and definitely worthy of any collector who desired to collect that genre.

 

Using the word "coin" is contrary to the guidelines posted by the US Mint, and DC uses the word "coin" on his site:

How can you consider his copies as fine art? If someone copied the works of any other well-known artist, they would be labeled as fake!

Chris

 

Even if they are not a specialist that can identify specifics, anyone that is willing to drop big bucks on a nice MS coin of a particular series can be reasonably expected to at least know the starting and ending year that the series was made.

What else can you do? Can't just walk up to every collector at that level of purchasing and say "Hi, do you need an adult?"

 

His original designs are not the issue, but you're saying that if someone "does something good" then we should ignore anything they've "done bad".

Chris

 

Reasonably? Really! You've got the temerity to suggest that ALL collectors should be reasonable yet we get "uneducated collectors" here on a regular basis.

Chris

 

Yes, but as you battle this type of abuse, how do you propose to divide your time among:

• Daniel Carr's "coins"
• The widespread use of military challenge "coins"
• The unregulated sale of chocolate candy "coins"
• Bit"coins"

The Mint statement you quoted is, as you say, a guideline. I agree with them that it's a bad idea to mislead consumers about the nature of a replica or token. But the term "coin" doesn't appear on Carr's restrikes (or, for that matter, on actual legal-tender coinage). It appears on Carr's Web site, carefully explained; the restrikes are struck on coins, and the product is still a coin, now altered. Carr's description is explicit and unambiguous.

 

Uneducated collectors yes, uneducated collectors that would spend several hundred dollars or more on a coin... not so often.

Edit: would like to add that, if someone is willing to drop big bucks on a coin from a series they are not even basically familiar with, they are not doing the hobby any good.
The same argument comes up with actual non-fantasy fakes on eBay and elsewhere all the time. Uneducated collectors drive the counterfeiting business. At least with fantasy coin like this, you need only basic knowledge, you don't need a trained eye or experience identifying fakes.
The piece in this thread is legal for a reason.