I recently received 3 Liberty double Eagle gold coins. 1887S and 1905S are in VF/F condition and weigh 33.5grams or 1.08ozt but the 1900S is in XF/AU condition but only weighs 31.3grams or 1.01ozt. Is this within the margin of error or could it be a fake? The dimensions of the 1900S are exactly the same as the others. Thanks
The standard weight is 33.43 grams. At 31.3 grams, that 1900-S is way underweight and so it sounds like it's a fake. If you could post clear pictures of each coin, it would help.
I took it to a coin shop just now, and they say its definately a copy. He acid tested it and said its 18k+ gold. I told him my grandfather bought it in Lebanon in the 70s, the dealer then explained to me that it is common for jewellers in the middle east to copy the coin to make into necklaces.
That is an usual date for a counterfeit. More common were the Philadelphia dates. You wonder what the reasoning of those making the copies as to which coins they will counterfeit, and which dates. "Let's see, buddy, if we do a bunch of $2 1/2 Indians and $2 1/2 Libs. they will be less likely to catch on than with the $20 pieces". I have seen counterfeits of all three that are good enough to fool even seasoned coin shop owners.
Lebanon in the 70's..... That pretty much answers the question. Lebanon was infamous, especially in the 70's, for all varieties of fakes. They had an extremely busy counterfeiting operation there. There are tons of "Lebanon fakes" in the ancient market. Chris
When I posted the first post, I had not asked him where he bought it from. The other 2 coins were bought in Lebanon too so they're not all fake..Well at least its made of 18k gold. Thanks for your help.
Be careful of the other two as well. As I say sir, Lebanon was a literal hotbed of faking in that timeframe. I have read of fakes being made of the correct gold, the fakes were simply made to increase the value of the gold up to collectible coin prices. Some of the fakes are EXTREMELY good, to the point many US dealers will be incapable of spotting them. I simply cannot overestimate the danger of coins purchased from Lebanon in the 1970's. You could always send them to a TPG, they should be able to spot them, or take them to a bigger gold coin dealer at a large show and they should be able to help. Chris Edit: Maybe they are good sir, I simply do not know. Just throwing up a red flag because of the notoriety.
