Are the Chinese fakes a good thing?

I'm beginning to beleive the influx of ever-improving Chinese fakes may have a beneficial aspect as everyone is now seemingly questioning the authenticity of coins and, yes, even the slabs that house them.

What say thee?

 

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To answer your title, no. They are a terrible thing. They just give a dirty vibe off and they surely do not help in any way. Collectors should always trust but verify and this should be no excuse.

 

I do have to agree with the OP. I have seen a few that are really good until closer inspection (I was even fooled until I did a little inspecting).

Most of them make you do no questioning though. At least 90% of them are....just....aweful.



stainless

 

in a word:
NO!

 

Hmmm, does that mean full of awe (fearful admiration)?

 

nope, I can't spell.


stainless

 

Actually, some are not awful. I recall a Coin World article stating that many dealers at a show were fooled by a high quality Chinese fake and offered to buy it.

 

I think they are a plague on our hobby , they serve no useful service , the time I spend on learning about counterfeits could be better used learning other aspects of our hobby .
rage

 

Is there any way there could be a law getting passed that would require all packages shipped from places like China go through a random screening? Maybe pass a few of them through an x-ray machine, and if they show similarities to coins(or other questionable and illegal items), the officials would have the right to open the package and possibly hold the recipiant liable for the item. Just an idea open to additions, debate, and criticism...

 

Why would you hold the recipient responsible?

Perhaps they simply want to see what these look like for future reference?

I have a couple of counterfeit IKE dollars which could pass as original if you never looked at them. Once you loupe them though, they are as phoney as a dollar bill printed on binder paper!

 

Wonderful Idea~kinnda

I have a loud/slob neighbor. If I order one of the fakes and have it shipped to his house would they lock him up?

Sounds like a good plan.

 

I agree! It's not much different for collectors of ancient coins, many people have been burned by the crooks and there is nothing good about that.

Anyone that says yes to this just needs to get burned one time with a key or gold coin and lets see how fast they change their mind...

Fortunately this has not happened to me yet and I hope it never does!

 

Ditto!! Fakes, Counterfeits, Reproductions (Not Marked) BAD!!

 

My quick answer to the title is no, but you are correct in the body of the post Major. If I had to come up with something positive to say about it, it's making folks learn a bit more about what they are buying. This problem is never going to go away. It's here to stay.

I can see in the future where folks will be collecting date sets, type sets, etc. of china fakes. The truth is, they already are.

 

Remember, according to the leading seller of Chinese "copies" on eBay, the sole purpose of these coins is to "make your collection more perfect... please do not buy them as genuine". And if you request the "copy" stamp, they'll do that for you at no extra charge. Then the coins become legal reproductions, and are not liable for confiscation. I wonder if anyone can see the copy stamp when they x-ray the package?

 

For me it's both yes and no. Although we all yell about China counterfeiting our coins, there are some good things about this.
For one thing you must all remember that not to long ago we had many counterfeited coins made right here. Most were and may well still be in collections since no one really knew it was going on. The famous 16D Dimes, the 09S VSB cents, etc. were all over the place and no one was watching.
Now with the influx of so many China fakes, TPGS's are poping up all over the place attempting to authenticate coins. Many of those old fakes made right here have now been detected due to this increase in so many from China. Many people are making money selling books, pamphlets, etc. on how to detect those fakes. Such articles may not have ever been written if not for those China fakes. Web sites too have been made about them. Many people that would have accepted any rare coin from anyone now thinks twice about that and being taken is not so easy today.
Another point is it opens a new hobby for some. Just as when Mint errors were becoming popular due to the 55 Double Die and more and more web sites were poping up about errors, also books, etc were made about them too. So now we have a new hobby of collecting fakes. Some are collecting fake coins, faked slabs, etc.
So although I too hate this massive flow of such counterfeiting of our coins, there are those that have profited from it also.

 

Are the Chinese fakes a good thing ? Overall, NO.

There is usually something good in a bad thing, however... and as you pointed out, people are paying more attention.

 

No, fakes will never be a good thing. Only more advanced collectors are cognizant of them and know how to spot the difference. The masses are easily tricked into buying them at normal market prices by scammers and this destroys the hobby. When a new collector or unknowing "investor" figures out down the road that they've been ripped off, they will bad mouth the hobby until death....think about it. There is NOTHING good that comes from counterfeit coins.

 

It,s all about some sellers being dishonest and not telling the
Buyer what he,s buying, Not good for the hard working collectors
And yes it is hard work, But i love it!!

 

Probably because the counterfeiter and shipper have not broken any laws, while the recipient who is importing them into the country IS breaking the law.