CHILE, 10 PESOS 1968, ESCUADRA LIBERTADORA DEL PERÚ, RESTRIKE, SILVER PROOF!!!

Ebay item numbers 142975345084 and 253920822004 are obvious fakes:

The metal is poured into a sand-cast mold by an artisan from San Pedro La Paz, Chile. See https://www.yapo.cl/biobio/arte_ant...onmemorativa_10_pesos_1968_chile_55689391.htm

Below is an authentic CHILE 1968-SO ESCUADRA LIBERTADORA PLATA 10 PESOS:


The Ebay merchant carriebear31 has sold at least a dozen of the fake coins on Ebay (at a loss if the silver purity is to be believed).

I have reported the listings and called Ebay concerning this issue to no avail for months.

Considering paying the $60 dollars to "Express" grade one of the counterfeit coins by the Numismatic Guarantee Corporation. NGC would then return it well within the 30 day Ebay Guarantee period. Then, Ebay should pickup the grading fee considering they have willingly failed to protect the market in these coins.

Thoughts?

Best regards,

Mike

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I have no idea if that would work, but it’s clearly a fake. Good on you for being diligent and trying to get rid of the seller. @ToughCOINS can you maybe shed light on eBay policy?

 

There are authorized restrikes, however, these are not them.

As an example, when it is inconvenient for a country to change their dies, they will authorize their mint, often in a foreign land, to press restrikes to replenish their circulating coinage. These restrikes are graded with the word "restrike" featured prominently on the slab label:

Chile has not authorized any restrikes ever.

Simply counterfeit coins are not graded and are returned to their owner in a plastic bag.

The ebay merchant insists on calling them a "restrike" and insists that they are a legitimate KM# 183 coin from the Krause catalog!

 

I purchased a replica coin not long ago on ebay. It was clearly listed as a "Replica" coin. This 1867 replica coin was minted at the Case de Moneda de Mexico:

According to Ebay guidelines, replica coins should be clearly listed as replica coins.

 

That’s what I figured. Thank you for your insight.

 

You’ve convinced me. And I have a warm place in my heart for Chile. Unfortunately, I have no clout with eBay, haha.

 

Your words are very helpful.

If I choose to purchase one of these fakes for grading, the "Not Genuine" selection for Ebay's 30 Day Guarantee allows just enough room for this URL (https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ch...tadora-del-perÚ-restrike-silver-proof.325313/) in the notes.

Thanks again!

 

Good on you Michael Webb for your efforts on this issue. I hope your are successful.
I too have a soft spot for Chile and hate to see this happening.

This website (in Spanish) discusses the appearance of fakes of this commemorative coin: http://monedasenchile.blogspot.com

Other than that I have found no further reference to them, or of their origin.

 

Very sophisticated counterfeit described for the CHILE 1968-SO ESCUADRA LIBERTADORA PLATA 10 PESOS coin in the July 25th post, Escuadras Libertadoras falsas: ¿Cuál es el real problema?

At least with the Ebay counterfeit, the artisan makes no secret of the replicas. A metallurgical test could be applied to these replica coins to answer how the seller can apparently lose money on the counterfeit side of the operation. For example, is this a simple money laundromat where some loses are better than total loses? Do these coins posses less pure silver than advertised by the artisan?

 

Don't think it would be a cast coin with those proof fields, though the die itself could have been made from a sand-cast and then had the fields polished.

 

The polished fields are flat in the replica, while an authentic coin has slightly convex mirrored fields which allow metal flow.

The fluted edge and the rim look too rough to survive more than a few pressings.

The link to the artisan's web site is https://www.yapo.cl/biobio/arte_ant...onmemorativa_10_pesos_1968_chile_55689391.htm

If an advertisement appears, it will eventually respond to the close window control in the upper right corner. Then, you may submit your questions to Valeria.

 

It seems like a good way to fake proof coins. Sand casting would be a cheap and effective way to achieve that frosted look, thought it is noticeably more granular. Cast the die, polish the fields and the incuse parts stay rough and "frosty" looking. Not sure if that's what is being done here, seems like a less primitive method may be involved, but it works in theory

 

Yes, if the metal is a dentist's amalgam rather than silver, that would answer a number of questions. (In which case, the replica coins should be tested for mercury.)

 

I'm going to buy a counterfeit coin, then have it tested for silver, lead, and mercury for safety concerns by way of a special NGC submission.

 

I think it’s really awesome that you’re doing this, but be prepared to dump all this money down the drain. You might get a refund for the coin, maybe get the seller banned, but I doubt you’ll get your submission money back. Even so, my hat off to you good sir.

 

I don't doubt that the coin is anything other than solid silver as it's being marketed. The seller is selling what in their mind is a legitimate item, so it does not appear that they would lie about the material. Save yourself some money and just get a jeweler to test the purity. Or, if you have a decent sized flat magnet, angle it at about 45 degrees to the ground and slide the coin down it. If it slides very slowly then it's high purity silver. I've never actually seen or heard of a coin being struck from dental amalgam, though I suppose it's possible considering the odd materials we've seen used (compressed coal dust for example).

 

Question is why the mirrored surface does not have any indication that metal flowed due to pressure?

The surface is too flat to have been pressed at a normal temperature.

Then, for the coins to be pure silver as advertised, the seller would loose money on the $20 to $30 less 10% for Ebay, 4% for PayPal, as well as cost of fabrication.

 

Did I mention the deep discount from the $180 per coin he sought a few months ago? The 50 g in weight?

 

You won't see metal flow lines on any modern proofs with the naked eye, unless struck from heavily used dies.