Several threads I've encountered recently, seem to be in an uproar over or just laughing at the possibility of slabbing such a common counterfeit. I'm not sure of the merit of such accusations, but, they do seems to be unanimous... http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/index.aspx?CertNumber=2629681-002
It's just a well known fake to some. Easy design to replicate. Aluminum. I'm guessing there is no record of these coins in Proof and the overall appearance is different. Authentic PCGS MS 67 photos compared side by side with this one... http://www.pcgs.com/Cert/27246269/
I don't trust NGC too much either, but its absurd to assume Krause is more reliable! There is so much missing from those books.
According to - MONETY POLSKIE by Janusz Parchimowicz and published in 2003, the coin was not minted in Proof.
I double checked two reputable online catalogues, prior to posting here. One of them shows all the trial and alternate strikes, but, no proof. The easiest way is to look for the lack of details, most easily seen here, stars and wings...
Well, if it is just misidentified, it should probably resemble this one... http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/index.aspx?CertNumber=3348816-022
I certainly don't know enough about this particular coin to say whether it is a fake or not. And I already know, with reasonable certainty, there were no Proofs. So I thought perhaps NGC just identified the coin as Proof when it was really a business strike. That has happened before. What I do know is, that even with coins that I thought I knew a lot about, with further research and learning, coins that I had previously thought to be fakes, and obvious fakes at that, turned out not to be fakes at all, but genuine coins. And all because of details like those pointed in the pictures posted in this thread. So is it a fake ? I don't know.
I do have a bag of these, raw, various years, lying around. I'm familiar with the details to a certain degree. If this one is real, I'd like to see a record that shows the possible existence of such a different surface and detail finish. So far, all I've got is a photo of a very similar fake on the blog of a well known and published expert and numismatist, on these coins. http://zbierajmymonety.blogspot.ca/2014/02/cwierc-miliona.html
I don't think the photos of the coin in question have the resolution to make that claim. The loss of details could easily be explained by the photos low resolution. This needs to be an in-hand comparison. I don't know if this coin is authentic or not...but I don't think this method can be used with these photos.
The only things those do is improve posture (as you can see). As far as visibility, it's not that big of a deal.
Granted I don't know much about aluminum coins , but being an ex tool and die maker that has worked in aluminum and it's alloys . I can't see a die losing any detail or especially that much in those two pics . They are of high enough resolution that you can see the complete loss of lines and detail to strongly lead me to say it's has a 99% chance of being fake . As even if the loss of detail could be explained , the position of neck to the wings wouldn't change . It's not like Poland was hand engraving every die , as I imagine they did it like we did .
