The Importance of Vigilance- Fake Mexican Gold and Slabs…

In my Groups I see bad coins and/or holders every day; these two in this past week from 2 groups of bad coins and slabs.

The 1st was in both groups, this “1921 PCGS MS65 50 P”.



The images aren’t great, but fortunately this was a cert with an on-line image and auction history for comparison.



For those who know the series this one is really off as seen in the comparison images; bar code looks correct but doesn’t scan in my software, but the slab is better than many we have seen used in other recent counterfeits.



The next is the 1943 gold 50; this one uses a cert with no image or auction history. The coin itself might pass on a glance, but there are a few other clues with this one!



I could not find an image of the genuine example with the reverse slab imaged to compared it to so I used a different known genuine one and that showed one of the clear clues something was amiss!



In reviewing it with my Mexican coin expert he explained that the 1943 was unique in the series for an increased diameter, 39 mm versus 37 for the other dates in the series, a fact apparently lost on the counterfeiters…

The reverse label appears off to the genuine one as well:



Also the cert for this one doesn’t show the chip “anti-counterfeiting holder” that the reverse label indicates.



I did find images of the genuine one with just the front slab shown and show the comparison of the two:



In this case the label of the counterfeit is pretty good and does scan correctly; again, the gasket has issues…

And notice anything similar between these 2? Well yes, they are the same counterfeit in different holders…



Stay thirsty my Friends!

 

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As always, thanks for your tireless efforts Mr Young.

 

Thanks Jack! I never studies the labels, fonts, and plastic of genuine PCGS slabs before. I'd be able to catch the fake coins but those fake slabs would probable fool most people including me.

ICG changed our labels to a drasticly different font last week. When I saw it I told the front office to get ready for hundreds of calls about genuine ICG slabs that collectors and dealers think are counterfeit!

 

This is yet another coin that would have fooled me even if I would have checked the TPG photos (Which is what I thought to be "Due diligence"). Depressing

 

I always look forward to your posts @Jack D. Young .

 

Thanks for posting sir! We appreciate your efforts to expose the fakes.

 

Muchas Gracias Señor Young,
So glad I bought mine 20+ years ago, all graded NGC & from Nevada 'Broken CC' coins.
(Hopefully before all this mishegas)
J.T.

 

Thanks again for all your efforts to protect and educate the numismatic community!

 

Getting so ya can't trust anyone anymore. Thanks for the post Jack.