Here's another fake quarter eagle. There are plenty of things to study on this "coin". I just noticed this one for the first time, and have no idea how long it's been out there. - Mike
What is the tell? I have a couple of these raw I bought from LCS. I never even considered authenticity because of that. I know you were PMing some with some sort is 'secret diagnostic.' I'd like to know what it is.
My first clue was the wear on the obverse and the lack of wear on the reverse. Otherwise Look again. There are more tells.
I think he was saying if you are gonna make a fake 1911, might as well make it a 1911-D to maximize your profit
I thought of that. But a 1911 D might fall under more scrutiny. Easier to slide by a Philly wouldn’t you think?
I often see "sinking" devices on lower-quality counterfeits, where low points of the devices appear to submerge under the field and disappear. On this example, I wonder if I'm seeing something similar on the vine under the eagle's claws?
This is not necessarily diagnostic of a fake. An absence of material from the planchet, such as flaking or a shallow delamination would cause incomplete filling of the die in this area, and may leave one feeling that something about the die was not right, even though that might not be the case.
At this point, if I can't tell whether it's a fake or a defective planchet, I'll pass. So I guess we can also blame the fakers if the market for planchet defects starts to tank.
This post disturbs me. I have only recently in the last few years picked up collecting with a passion having taken 25 years off to raise a family. I always felt I was sharp enough to pick a fake out. I have two of these Indians and inspected mine against this photo. Other than the fellow in the photo appears to be a wee bit more "smiley" than my guys. This piece is disturbingly accurate. What is the giveaway?
Here is a PCGS article from 2009 about counterfeits in this issue: https://www.pcgs.com/News/Indian-Head-Quarter-Eagles-King-Of-The-Counterfeit-Gold-Coin
The 1911 $2.50 is the #6 most commonly counterfeited coin in the US. You can see more here: https://www.ngccoin.com/resources/counterfeit-detection/top/united-states/6/