Went to Central States on a Counterfeit Hunt amongst other things..

Love the Central States Show and have attended the past 4 years. I have a standard group of friends at tables I always look for!

This years visit also included looking or a "coin" spotted by a friend at the Georgia State show a couple of weeks ago and one of the most prolific counterfeits I have documented.

I have actually written 3 articles on the group of counterfeit 1836 Gobrecht dollars and included it in my top 5 counterfeits in my recent Coin Q&A podcast.

On the 1st day the Dealer just had his coins in boxes in his cases, so on the 2nd day I asked specifically if he had an example. He was happy to show me and allow images be taken.

I went off to a quiet corner and reviewed the images of his compared to my known bad example and my Coin Week article attribution points. I went back to his table, waited for it to be clear of other customers and then reviewed the images and my example with him. Obviously not happy, he blurted out who had sold it to him (I actually already knew) and that he knew who that dealer got it from without naming him. We shook hands and I headed out.

Images included are of my example, his and his relative to my documented attribution points.

PS, the friend who sent me the images from the GA show owns the documented repaired source example in a TPG holder.





Just submitted a detailed summary article to Coin Week.

Jack

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Thanks for this Jack. I very much appreciate you exposing these fakes.
It's unfortunate that we collectors have to constantly be on the lookout for these deceptive coins. Your vigilance is invaluable.

 

Did you see/visit the counterfeit detection & education table? There were some nice folks there sharing information, guides, etc. They had some donated counterfeits - including some quite convincing PCGS slabs! It looked like they even had necessary equipment to stamp COPY onto coins when needed.

 

That had to be an expensive mistake.

 

Agreed!

 

I'm trying to imagine writing a five-figure price on a cardboard 2x2. Do you suppose he did that before or after stapling it shut? And, crucially, were the staples flattened?

 

Sounds like at least two four-figure transactions occurred with this fake, and the three parties are known to each other? That can't be a comfortable situation.

 

Someone say staples?