I Got the Better of a Scammer (A Henning Nickel Story)

A seller on Ebay might soon learn a valuable lesson on why you shouldn't try to scheme and scam people.

The seller tried to make it appear that a normal, well-circulated 1946 Jefferson nickel "with no mintmark" was for some reason worth a lot of money; they were asking $50 or best offer.

I gladly offered the $50 to give him the satisfaction. The reason I did that is because he unknowingly had a super rare 1946 Henning nickel - the second rarest next to the 1953 date - which sell for over $800. Notice it even has the Looped "R." (I currently have an offer for $1,200 and since I already have one, I might sell it.)

I am waiting for him to some day find out and ask for it back, but that ain't happenin'. I'm all for dishonest people learning very expensive lessons.

 

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Thats called "Cherry Pickin", not scamming,

 

One born every minute. Says both the buyer and seller. Good job. Wasn’t aware of the 46. But that’s the telltale looped r I look for

 

I can’t follow your thinking. What did the seller do wrong exactly?

 

It appears the seller did not present the nickel as a Hennings counterfeit nickel. Therefore the only feature the coin had was a well circulated, heavily worn, nothing special about it, nickel. With that presentation it was worth 5 cents. Yet they were claiming it was rare and price it as $50 OBO.

It was only @JCro57 that identified it as the rare Henning and capitalized on that knowledge. The seller, had they known it was the rare Henning nickel, would surely have notated it in the listing, and priced it accordingly.

Joe, please correct me if I misrepresented your thoughts.

 

Counterfeits are generally not allowed to be listed on eBay. Some contemporary counterfeits such as micro-O Morgans are frequently sold as „scarce type“ but not as „counterfeits“, because sellers don‘t want to violate eBay’s policies.

Even if the seller only knew it was „different“ from other Nickels and not aware of it being a Henning Nickel, selling it for $50 isn’t really a scam in my book.

 

Nailed it

 

When you misrepresent something as very valuable, you're a scammer.

 

I thought it was a valuable item?

Anyway, I don‘t want to argue… maybe you can post a link to the listing?

 

A worn 1946 coin is worth about... 5 cents

 

Congratulations! And I take it by “looped R” you are referring to the lower left leg of the R in PLURIBUS.

 

The dot above the roof is not present on this coin. I think that is the 53'. Yeah I wish I would have picked the coin above but thats JCro'S find.

 

One for the good guys! CONGRATS!

 

I'm confused...

 

I’m also confused. Dot? What dot?

 

1953, 5.58 grams, with a reverse die with the hole/lopped “R”, “black arrow”.

Image courtesy of Joshua H. Sears.

Some of the Hennings do not have the hole/loop in the “R”.

Look on the Reverse above Monticello to the left of the dome and you will see a small dot “die dent” in the field.



When searching other dates for Hennings this is a marker to use besides looking at the “R”.
Heres the link.
https://www.error-ref.com/henning-counterfeit-nickel/

 

Looped Rs are seen on all dates. The dots on some of them.

Some legitimate Hennings have neither

 

I have a better and much more detailed reference coming soon...in February

 

It seems most people in this thread are confused. I asked for a link to the listing, which would certainly help to better understand the OP‘s point of view.