Possible counterfeit 21d walker listed on ebay

Hello everyone. Just signed up here. Wanted to share something I am seeing in an eBay listing.

I have been looking for a 21-d walking liberty half to complete my set. I ran across a listing on ebay that seemed too good to be true...a remarkable condition example with a 99 cent opening.

At first glance it appears unworn and has a genuine looking frosty luster. Closer examination shows some inconsistencies with coins known to be real. First, the ones in the date are too low. Around the perimeter of the coin from liberty's trailing foot to the I in liberty there are extra ridges in the rim, and the rim varies in width on the obverse, widest below the date. Looks tampered.

Second, the mint mark is too large, and placed low. I have seen the large and small D's on the 1934's, and know that the D on later years is larger, but never on the early issues and never inset into the notch in the rock like this.

On another post, photos of counterfeits of this coin exactly match this one....large D, inset into the rock the eagle stands on, and ones in the date too low and in contact with the rim. The clincher for me is a die break on the reverse. It can be seen on the reverse. Draw a line from the mint mark to the H in half dollar. The die break is seen as a line perpendicular to your drawn line and the Eagles rock is broken by it. This is identical to a fake shown in photos here in another post, down to the nicks in liberty's leg.

The coin is slabbed, and graded "AU53", but the label is seen in different orientations to the coin, so I am assuming it is opened. In the description the dealer feigns ignorance of what AU53 means.

Not sure how to get photos off ebay and onto here. Take a look, it's sitting at $283.00 now, 1921 d walking liberty. Let me know if you think it's fake.

 

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Can you give us the listing number if you cannot copy and paste?

 

Item number 272509963601

 

That coin is NOT slabbed. They used an old broken slab as a holder and made their own label.

and the date looks doctored... I can't see the shape of the mint mark to verify that.

 

Do not buy that coin. It seems like you have a good handle on what to look for.

 

Looks a lot like this one, from deep in possum tater's post in 2011. Maybe from same factory.

 

Looking at the cert number, which is as fake as the label itself, the first numbers suggest it would have been a 1915 Barber Half, graded 40.

 

Based on other coins the seller sold, here is who graded the coin http://www.pccb.cc/ (or, at least, this is where the seller got the holder)

Care to guess which country it came from? lol

 

Too bad, I was seduced by the frosty luster, and got excited at the price. Something didn't look right though....with the coin and the description.

 

Oh my. I get it now.

 

You did the right thing, you came here first. And you avoided a costly mistake. Knowledge is power. Plus you noticed something was amiss, good eye.

 

Thanks Tommyc03. I have looked at a lot of walkers on ebay, and bought quite a few with only a few issues....I generally stick with mid grade naturally colored coins from private sellers. Other people can buy the cleaned and polished ones if they like them, or take chances on supposed uncirculated coins. I like the originals. My pet peeve is those who take a very nice au coin and clean and shine the heck out of it and try to pass it as uncirculated. They ruin a very nice coin.

But this one is on another level of dishonest intent. Thought I needed to say something.

 

Item reported...

 

You did need to, and thank you for doing so. The only way these go away is if we shine the harsh light of publicity on them. And you did it right, explaining why you felt it a fake instead of just pointing a finger.

 

Guaranteed not real.

The date is not level, nor is the GOD in the motto

 

Reported as well. Good eye!

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/1921-D-Walkin...3A8dcf11af1590a357c0f7c7c6ffb88ac6%7Ciid%3A11
Genuinely Fake.

 

The feedback score of some of the bidders tells me they are dealers, who should know better.

 

The listing has been nuked thanks to Bobby131313. http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=277677&#2354133

 

Thanks to all for taking an interest in my suspicions about this coin. There were too many red flags about that one, wasn't sure what to do. Thanks for taking action as well. Glad that listing is gone, but makes me wonder how many people get taken on these scams. I guess if it looks too good to be true, be careful.