yea but for even a dansco you're going to be paying $300 for an ugly worn down one. This is at least nice looking! I think $70 shipped was a steal!
You must remember the Missouri Cabinet sale a couple years ago, where one of these and a 1794 Half Cent both fetched over a million dollars each. A million dollars for a Half Cent. This coin, if real, is probably in the six or ten finest-known of the type. This is the cherrypick of the year if it's legit.
100% fake and likely cast. Seller knows it's fake, thus the "real or fake? I will let you judge" part in the listing. Seller also has a couple fake FE cents in completed items.
It is a fake, the rev is wrong for that variety. Look at the leaf below the last A. On the OP coin the point is right of the center of the A. On the C-1 wide date it is LEFT of the center of the A. There are other discrepancies but that one is enough. Be glad you didn't get your wish. Almost certainly NOT cast. Most likely is one of the die struck fakes from out of China in the past few years.
Whistles and Bells should be going off when you spot a coin like this on e bay RAW! #1 Question if the seller believed it to be real why wouldn't they have it slabbed and certified ? #2 Question revert back to question #1! And know it's a fake.
These 1811 fakes are going around. My friend, Ron, bought one several months ago. It was a decent counterfeit. Ron returned it and the seller opened a case saying that Ron returned an empty package, which was a lie. He lost the case and now I'm sure there are more of these than ever floating around. All nice VF's to XF's.
If eBay really cared, they would hire guys like you to monitor auctions and actually take action against these creeps.
There are two clear ways to deal with these fakes. 1) Be very, very good at what you do. 2) Trust your dealers to be very, very good and ethical. I have kept and educated many a good customer over the years so that they no longer have to rely on #2 and have become #1';s.
Interesting thread; made me go to Breen's Encyclopedia of Half Cents. Is the berry nestled in the leaf opposite the I in America another indicator of a fake? Also, the last image above looks like a re-strike (Mickley). The fraction was discontinued in the 1809 strikes onward until it reappeared in the few re-strikes.
That one may be "Not even close" but it IS still valuable. I don't see what you are talking about on the berry, but check out the positions of the leaf points below the second T in STATES, below the F in OF, by the left side of the first A in AMERICA, below the upright of the E in America, and below the C in America. (This is all in reference to the OP coin, not the Mickley restrike.)
