Came across this 20c 1875S when looked at another coin from this eBay seller. This one just doesn't look right. The color fits Chinese counterfeits perfectly, plus there are some other issue that make it feel wrong. If this one is fake, I dont think I`ll buy the one I want from him. Quite reputable seller, 100% positive with 5k feedbacks. Fake or authentic?
It's real... It has had a rough life tho. It appears to have "rubber band burns" on both sides... Under the wing on the reverse and obverse right field.
Josh , when looking at a coin to tell if it's fake color is the last ting you should be looking at , so many real coins have been AT as have fakes to make them appear old . Compare the coin to a known coin of the same date an MM and all the known die marriages . Also look at the surface for bubbles or pits , tool marks that are not on any originals . The reeding is a very good indicator as that's where a lot of counterfeiters skimp . Look for overlapping lines again compare to a original coin . There's some good books on detecting fakes but most concentrate on key dates . BTW the coin looks fine to me .
LOL , I forgot there is no reeding on the twenty cent piece . Well it's a good indicator to look at with reeded edge coins .
Here's a coin that's at Heritage right now , even the week bottom of the S in cents shows up . Image View: Normal | Medium | Large
Ali=Aliexpress. Only the largest online store for Chinese fakes. Just saying that fakes can show trademarks of authentic coins. And sometimes authentic coins resemble fakes.
That is one hell of a rubber band burn. Coin looks legit, though. Josh, please don't advise that someone avoid a coin if you are not familiar with the series, or spotting counterfeits in general.
Well said , especially when they use a real coin to make a working Die . It'll pick up all the characteristics of the host coin , even blemishes .
I'm familiar with counterfeits but not so much the series. In my experience with collecting I would avoid a coin whose color I didn't like. The OP believes the color made the coin appear like a perfect chinese fake. With that said I'm sure he wasn't too crazy about the coin in question.
Also remember that on online stores (and especially at eBay), the pictures are often heavily tweaked in Photoshop to show up some attribute or downplay some negative. My first thought was the color of the entire picture looked wrong -- and it wouldn't shock me if that "light gray" material the coin is sitting on is actually white, which might explain why the color looks off on a coin that otherwise appears legit. I'd bet a reasonable sum the guy is holding the coin in white gloves, that now have a distinctive gray cast to them.
So true Amanda . When I 1st started buying some CWTs or Bust halves on eBay the coin looked great in their pic , in hand it was a whole different story . It's one reason I hardly ever buy coins off of eBay unless I know the seller .
It can be hard. When I was doing our ebay, I would use Photoshop fairly frequently on coins, but only to make them look as they did in hand (they rarely photograph with the color perfect) ... I never understood the point of 'juicing' photos: it's just a giant waste of time. The buyer's going to get the coin, be annoyed, return it, and probably leave negative feedback. I don't understand why anyone would invite that sort of headache, but I do see images that are clearly heavily manipulated all the time.
Like you said , they're usually trying to hide flaws or make the coin more attractive . That's one pet peeve of mine , but I have been known to keep it anyway , usually CWTs as the price isn't that much and the hassle of returning it . Which is probably what they're counting on . That's why I seldem by coins or tokens on eBay anymore and never use the seller again if the pics were juiced .
I've had mostly good luck. Only one seated half that looked grey on eBay and was extremely dark in hand. Like you said I would not do business with them again.
