Beautiful classic head $ 2 1/2 gold coin

Oh great! I've really liked the look of those Buffalos. Gotta love that design.

I'd say this is the one for me
http://catalog.usmint.gov/webapp/wc...ctId=14543&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=14239

Thanks for the heads up! I think I'll try and get one of these while I still can.

 

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Kevin, You have come a long way. Keep it up! Respectfully...Mike

 

Kevin,

I share your interest in counterfeit coins. I like all counterfeits but I especially like contemporary counterfeits.

I recently bought a contemporary counterfeit 1900-S $20 Liberty gold piece. To the trained eye this coin is an obvious fake but this coin saw a fair amount of circulation. I wish I knew who eventually figured out this coin was fake and took it out of circulation. Was it a bank teller? I'll never know.

This coin was created to fool a storekeeper, not a collector. It does not have the right color for a gold coin of that era because it is only about 50% gold instead of 90%. (That's how the counterfeiter made his money - by using only $11 worth of gold instead of about $19 worth.) It also has many of the indicators you look for on a counterfeit - mushy details, spikes, tool marks, raised lumps, etc.

This coin is a GREAT piece to use for education. Several collectors have chuckled looking at this coin because you really don't need a lot of training to spot its flaws. But a couple of non-collecting buddies that I showed the coin to over the weekend saw nothing whatsoever wrong with it. They were somewhat interested in what makes it a fake once I pointed out some of the counterfeiter's mistakes.

You should consider taking the Detecting Counterfeit & Altered US Coins course at ANA Summer Seminar. There you get around 28 hours of instruction and hands-on with the ANA counterfeit coin collection. You will probably learn much more than you did in the 8-hour course at the ANA show.

 

Just an update. I took the coin to a dealer, Xavier Coins and currency in mesa.
When I went in, I immediately recognized the dealer there, at least, one of them. He was from a scottsdale coin show I used to go to with my other coin friend dennis.

The other guy I didn't recognize. I had him look at it and he basically told me it looked to him that the coin was artifically toned because there was an orange patina on the obverse and not the reverse. I disagree with him completely and think the coin is orgininal. Heck, not even sure why I brought the coin with me, just wanted a second opinion. I didn't believe him for a second, and came out of the store more wiser. He also mentioned after he said that that it IS slabbed by NGC, so thats all that matters. We all have opinions. This was, after all, his opinion, and we're all allowed to have different opinions.

Furthermore, CAC agreed it is orgininal or they wouldn'tve stickered it. I kind of asked GDJSMP (sp?) ifI should bring it, and he said I shouldnt've. I apologize to GDJSMP (sp?) the admin here for following through with something I said I wasn't going to do.

 

We just give or 2 cents you make the final call and the good or the bad that comes from that call

 

Huh? What do you mean? I'm confused.

 

TRANSLATION

We just give our two cents (i.e., opinion). You make the final call. And you are responsible for the good or the bad that comes from that call.

 

GoldCoinLover,

It sounds to me like you're doing just great! Your coin is beautiful. The strike on it is very good and it looks better to me than most of these do. And if there is a bit of orange toning on one side, it is perfectly reasonable to believe that it is natural toning. Congrats!

 

That is a beauty! Thanks for sharing. Good to have you here. There can't be enough counterfeit experts around. As time goes on and things become more of a complicated mess, we'll need all the people with a good eye we can get, gathering here.

Myself, I've just read a little here and there. I feel confident about spotting obvious ones at least. I question just about everything and assume nothing when it comes to gold.

And maybe Morgan dollars from time to time. :mouth:

 

Got some new pictures from mark goodman!
Same coin!

 

Great pics , can't see how someone thought it was cleaned , looks completely original to me , and more beatiful than the 1st pics , great coin and $1200 is a great price . You should be proud of her .
rzage

 

Absolutely beautiful coin Mr. gold coin lover! Very nice and crusty, just the way I like em. It's interesting, because the 1834 classic head quarter eagle was one of my first early gold purchases too!! Mine was a raw XF/AU cleaned example that was pretty nice, but not as nice as yours. A little while later, I ran into this 1839-O example at a coin shop for a decent price. It's not as detailed as my 34 was and it has some dings, but I loved the crusty original toning and the fact that it is a tough date. So I decided to keep it and sold the 34. Anyways, this one currently resides happily in my type set.


wanna trade?:kewl:

 

WOW! Goldcoinlover, that is a nice one
I looked at your first pics, and the new ones
Very nice coins
I can see how people thinks that it looks cleaned, but I think it is original, and has just had a rough life!
Very nice!

 

LOL. If you think his had a rough life, mine must look like a train wreck... Honestly though, I think the surfaces are above average for the grade, and the flaws are harshly magnified in the pics compared to what it would look like in hand. I bet it's an absolute beauty in hand. This series seems to develop abraided surfaces quite easily from what I've seen.

 

LOL! Yours look a little "rusty" but I like it!
It seems to have been "Scrubbed"
It looks like it has been scrubbed down with something, and hard!
But even if cleaned, I think I'd take one of these babies!

 

The classic head series was abused alot, alot of them were put as jewerly as well as they were the first gold to circulate widely because of their lower gold fineness. I'd love to own a $5 someday but they are too expensive.

I must've gotten lucky with this coin because compared to alot of them that i've seen, the toning on this one is alot better. I agree it is orgininal, one person disagree's with me and I swear I get upset. Can't please everyone..

I bought it from mark feld, he has another one for sale, also a $2.50 1834 classic head same date and demonination, even the same price on sale right now, but I I like mine better.

http://www.markfeldcoins.com/inventory.html#gold

I can't recommend buying from mark enough, he is the most generous dealer and he asked me several times to not buy the coin, because he was afraid I would worry over it, and it would cause me stress, him losing money on the coin. That says alot about the dealer. He even offered to help me find another classic head on ebay, instead of his! He also gave me some extra money from the trade in I did, the profit that he made he gave to me. Totally unexpected, a great guy. I met him at the phoenix arizona show last year.

You guys are so nice, thanks , I'm glad you like the coin. It does look look better in hand, the flaws aren't as evident and what I like to do is put it under a halogen light bulb, the semi PL surfaces are stunning on it.

Johnny, I love your quarter eagle. The toning on the reverse is killer!
And I think that's a key date as well, like you said. Always good idea to buy the key dates first!

 

Hi Kevin. Didn't know you posted here. I'm a bit new to this forum.
It's been fun watching you grow with the hobby.
Any coin that gets shown around is going to get all kinds of different opinions.
You have NGC, CAC and Mark Feld all saying the coin is right for the grade.
That's all I would ever need. Actually Mark's opinion and my own is enough for me. I don't worry much about opinions given from just images.
It's a cool coin and I know you love it. That's all that matters at this point.
Mark Goodman did a great job for you on the images.
So tell us Kevin, what's the next coin you wish to add to your collection?

 

Not really sure. I don't really "collect" coins I accumulate them :hammer:

I would much rather have many different coins, such as by type than collecting many of the same type of coin.

But I would eventually like to own an XF $5 classic head, and a kim tahl gold bar with the rice paper. (vietnamese gold)