http://www.ketv.com/news/4023499/detail.html Guy must have been devastated to later find out his coin was fake. Sorry if this is old news (it was posted in 2004).
I hope he doesn't spend his $2.7 million before he sells this 1804 Dollar. At least he can look back and say he was rich for a while (until someone that knows something about coins tells him it is a Chinese counterfeit).
I think if the coin dealer thought it was real, he wouldn't have let it get away so easily or at least he would have gotten excited about it. I bet the dealer was joking around, and was content to let the guy live in dreamland. It is very sad.
I sure hope he plans the trips around a ski trip or something similar, so the trip can be useful. :goofer: The coin in the pic is an obvious counterfeit and the fact it was obtained in China, seals its fate. We see this all the time on Ebay, where someone lists a rare high dollar coin for sale and we have to bust their bubble and inform them it's a counterfeit but I guess there are no knowledgable coin dealers in Nebraska? :goof: They really should look at sending a cow to the summer classes at the ANA, that way they will have a local expert. Great story, even it it is old. :thumb: Ribbit
He recieved the coin from someone he traded coins with. I don't know who would give away a genuine rarity like this. It sounds to me like he probably collected coins. Was he clueless as to the odds of this being real, especially when it's from China? And why would the newspaper bother with such an article? I guess the corn stopped growing for a day in Nebraska!
Newspapers love this kind of story.. I've seen the same scenario with the 1804 dollar published at least three different times over the years. Also the Honus Wagner baseball card (reprint), Action #1 comic book (also a reprint), and of course the last will & testament (fake) of Howard Hughes. Makes for great ink!
It never ceases to amaze me how gullable and naieve people are. Look at the people who put 100% into the Madoff scheme as just another example. You would think one person somewhere would have stepped in and let the guy know how many counterfeit coins exist in the hobby these days. You can hardly trust a cheap Morgan anymore, let alone the holy grail.
It sounds like the guy whom he traded coins, more than likely knew it was a fake and was trying to play a prank on this guy...and then once he saw how the story took off, decided to keep his mouth shut in fear of being sued or something. I mean when he bought the coin in China, and I'm sure there was a whole display case of identical coins, each being sold for a $1...you mean to tell me he thought it was a real U.S. coin in China, and never once did an Internet search to see what he had. I'm telling yuh, this guy knew it was a fake and took the prank too far...to the point of no return. -LTB
I agree! If some egghead pulled that same trick on me, I'd probably have to take it one step further and pay him back. The only difference is he wouldn't know who did it after he realized he was made a fool!
