I'm trying to hone my skills at being able to detect counterfeit coins. Therefore, I would be appreciative if a Lincoln expert, who is willing to share their knowledge, provide me with their opinion? My opinion: This 1915 S appears fake to me...here's why...between 11 and 5 o'clock, there appears to be an extra rim running along on the edge, the detail around the eyes, forehead and in the hair seems overly exaggerated, the surface is virtually flawless, but has no luster and the color is off for such a high grade coin, and the stem on the left wheat stalk on the reverse seems to have tiny pits, and there appears to be a tiny metal dot that protrudes from the surface next to the N in Cent. Am I right in assessing this coin, or am I wrong? And please tell me why. Thanks in advance! -LTB
I'll let a Cent person give their reply but that could be an out of collar/slight off center strike. But we'll see what others say.
Your pictures are way too small to evaluate if that is truly a fake. However, color/luster being off probably mean it has been cleaned/over dipped. The double rim is because the dies were slightly mis-aligned. Aside from that, nothing I see says fake to me considering the size of the pictures.
It's genuine just unfortunate. It's genuine just unfortunate. Someone took a otherwise high grade cent and overdipped it at some point in the past. Cents of the era had great hair, beard and face detail. This is a case of someone dipping copper without a brain. It "was" a great coin at some point!
<< as the pan flute plays in the background >> I have much to learn oh wise Masters...and have a very long road ahead of me to becoming a Master too... Thanks guys for the quick responses. This is a listing currently running on ebay and these are the best pictures available. Dipped? what a shame...the strike is so well-defined that it didn't look real to me. I don't have any high grade Lincolns pre 30's to examine in hand, but maybe it's time I get one to use as a tool to assist me in assessing. Thanks! -LTB
I have no idea. Just a couple of things look a little off to me like the W & E in We. Just don't look right, the W is higher and it looks like a line is between them. The extra wrinkles around his eye. Could be real and it could be fake. Someone else will chime in here. Also below the E in We there is a little cud looking thing. I don't know but I agree with the OP Alrighty then, I guess your question is answered. I thought you had it in hand. case solved
LTB: If you're really interested in learning more about detecting counterfeit coins, I will recommend "The PCGS Guide to Grading and Counterfeit Detection." Of course, nothing compares to a live course on counterfeits, but the book is a good place to start.
Exactly. The dies were sharpened in 1915 before they were totally redone in 1916. The coin is a slight MAD that has been over-dipped and retoned.
I was just trying to acquire that exact book last week, but all of the local book stores were out of it. I read some reviews where some were disappointed because there were only a few pages that went through counterfeit detection; yet the authors put it in the title...is this true? I will acquire it regardless, but will also try to obtain a book dedicated to counterfeit detection; if one exists. Can anyone recommend a good counterfeit detection book? -LTB
I'll look tonight when I get home and post the exact number of pages here. I remember it being quite a bit more than "a few." By my recollection, it spanned a few chapters.
Awesome, thanks for the offer to followup borgovan! But you don't have to bother, as I ordered the following books from amazon yesterday... The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection, Edition #2 The Official American Numismatic Association Grading Standards of United States Coins Counterfeit Detection Vol II - A Reprint from The Numismatist (Volume 2) I know the best learning will come from experience, but am hopeful that these books will get me pointed in the right direction. Thanks again! -LTB
Can you provide a link to the auction? From my Lincoln book: (1915 Matte Proof) "The rims and edges are very squared with a nice sharp corner between the edge and rim. Both the obverse and reverse rims and the edge are smooth in appearance...The 1915 has much more detail in the hair on the entire head and throughout the beard. The ear on the 1915 appeared to be more distinct. When comparing the 1915 matte proofs to the 1915 business strikes, the matte proofs had greater detail in the hair behind the ear, in the beard, and the details of the neck." Saying all that: I would love to think it's a 1915 matte proof. If it's on ebay as a raw coin, I would doubt it. ETA: compare to this (hopefully real) 1913 Matte Proof
Can't be a matte proof - it has an "S" Can't be a matte proof - it has an "S" - it's a branch mint coin. It simply is a a coin with great detail that someone ruined, that is all.
Duh. I totally missed that. I was over looking at coins on ebay, and thinking--no, that can't be it, that one has an "S". I still kinda like the coin, but I went and looked at some other raw Lincoln cents he has, and they all looked a little off to me.
