Featured An examination of the counterfeit slab epidemic. Scope and advice.

I'm perfectly happy to hold people accountable for their own decision to spend 4 figures, or 3, or 2. But if it comes down to making a decision for yourself, what value does the slab add?

THE WHOLE POINT of TPG slabbing is to attach an expert evaluation to a coin in a tamper-proof way, so that buyer and seller can both be assured of the coin's authenticity and condition. If you can't rely on the slab itself being legitimate, why spend tens or hundreds of dollars to put it on the coin in the first place?

 

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Counterpoint would be it's trivially easy for anyone to see that holder is fake and shouldn't nee a QR check from any app even without looking at the coin

 

Which they already do. We are no where near the point where you can't rely on the slab, that is the trying to blow a house down stuff.

Legitimate question, can you show where there's any evidence of the TPGs being so compromised they cant be relied on their slabs?

 

But China -- where 90% of these fakes are coming from (according to experts) -- wasn't trading with us decades ago. They are now and they are flooding our markets with fakes because to them, it's not even illegal. Piracy and copying are considered legit in the Chinese ethos.

 

Sorry, but again I have a collection of counterfeit coins in genuine TPG slabs; where they can be "relied on their slabs" is in their guarantee...

 

Trade dollars weren't sent there? I'm not approving of what they are doing but their focus isn't numismatics. It's really just the same old same old

Should we be aware yes, is the sky falling no.

 

Glad I can help, Type !

I ASSUME it's reading the barcode and not the numbers. I'm pretty sure it is -- gotta be easier for that laser-scanner thingy to lock on to the unique code rather than look for "3's" and "7's" in the number sequence.

Yeah, you're right....I think this is why someone said they crop that stuff when they post on CT.

Hey, it's the weekend and you're giving us HOMEWORK !!!??

OK, I'm on it. I'll try and do what you said and report back.

 

Which is what percentage of overall slabs? 0.001 percent. Theres always going to be wrong things in everything humans do

 

For these slabs, yes, it's fairly easy to tell that they're fake. And yet people have already bought them, unsuspecting. For those people, TPG slabs are already compromised.

Even for those who can spot the fakes, their increased prevalence means spending more time and attention on each slab to make sure it's legit. Time is money, and attention is fragile and subject to interruption. The more expensive it is (in time and/or money) to deal with slabs, the less they'll be viewed as adding value.

 

Weird City......Type, the NGC scanner will pick up the ID from Heritage via barcodes...but the PCGS one will NOT.

CORRECTION: If you play around with the PCGS size, it WILL load. Great Collections loads, too.

 

Great info. Thank you!!!

 

Real
counterfeit

I realize that a grader isn't going to have these two coins on his table at the same time. Yet I see some very evident details that should have flagged the coin.
And since we are talking about slabs and not necessarily the coins. I will just leave it at that.

 

Which is why we shouldn't be trading with them

 

For some people everything is compromised. Mitigating risk is the biggest thing we can hope for

 

Not an option.

 

So you agree ignorance is bliss? Counterfeits are real and not everyone takes them seriously as an existential threat to the hobby.

I have had the misfortune of notifying several dealers of counterfeits and the reactions are telling.

One sent it in for certification so the buyer at least had the TPG guarantee of authenticity. This dealer is on my TRUSTED list.

Another recently replied he had purchased a large lot of "coins" for 12 Euros and it was his PENSION. This dealer is on my WARNING LIST.

While these are examples of counterfeit coins, it applies equally to counterfeit slabs.

 

The 1872-S fooled some pretty competent LS collectors looking to see if it may be a new variety; turns out it is a Philly obverse, an 1875-S reverse and has the reed count of an 1876...

 

I think you may have missed my point- the TPG guarantee offers protection from the human errors that as paid customers we expect them NOT to make. My expectation is that they make 0% errors on my submission but you can have my percent of the error % you cite.

 

Thank you for posting this thread TypeCoin this type of discussion and information is what makes online collector communities and forums great!

 

I wish. I think you're off by a factor of at least 1,000 making it 1% and more likely higher and rising.

We don't want to face the challenge that this will require, but if we ignore it, there will not be enough of a hobby left to support the pros.