Anyone who collects or is familiar with the Seated Liberty Half series knows the Philadelphia Mint 1851 is hard to find and expensive. eBay sent me a message with one listed Buy It Now for $20.45 plus shipping. The coin sold quickly leaving me to wonder why anyone would spend money on an obvious fake. The seller was located in Indonesia and the item was being shipped from China. The screen shot reveals what appears to be a 'skin' of an 1851 attached to a flat-surfaced blank. On the reverse this 'skin' of the left wing appears to have been pushed over to the "RI" in America. Have any of you ever seen something like this before?
Maybe it occurred during some process by which the counterfeiter was trying to artificially age the fake?
I would have to agree. These coins are often tumbled in dirt to age them and this can also hide casting bubbles.
Come on, scarce US coins are ALWAYS found in China and sold by Indonesians. Make you wonder about what some people are thinking.
I love the fact that eBay itself was promoting a counterfeit, from a red flag country. Wow, they really don't care about anything other than their bottom line.
Asides from the price and location what other signs are really present? The design is correct for that year (no arrows, correct drapery, no banner) What makes this stand out so definitely as a fake? New member, newbie question haha
Not having the coin in hand, the things that should be red flags when viewing on a computer screen are price, country of origin, and the coins surface. Maybe other members can add? Edit: I will quickly add that fakes sometimes are hard to detect by viewing on your computer screen. Last year I bought an 1880 SLH and when it arrived tested it with a magnet (yup it stuck) and did get a full refund.
Agreed, however ebay goes above and beyond turning their head as if they don't know any better!! It's their own policies and guidelines, they turn their heads and it allows counterfeiters to continue selling their counterfeits!! Case in point, this counterfeiter has been selling half dollars for quite awhile, maybe under a different names but I've reported them over and over! Finally I just said, I'm tired of throwing water in the wind!!! Argh!!! https://www.ebay.com/itm/1915-Unite...922190?hash=item25f7f6948e:g:0FEAAOSwWFFbBgIh
This one stands out like a sore thumb. Compare the images below, pay attention to the details. Specifically the date, stars, the edges around Liberty. Compare them and tell us what you see could be tell tale signs. I think it will become crystal clear pretty quickly.
Another feature on the reverse is the LF in HALF. Notice on the genuine coin posted above the distance from the upright of the L to the serif is short and the upper right serif of the L and upper left serif of the F are close together. On the fake the distance from the upright to the serif of the L is wide and the upper serifs are far apart. That change in the LF shown on the fake didn't take place until 1858 (which can be found both ways) So you have an "1851" with a rev style that didn't exist until 1858.
Those sneaky sellers. Always in the description the smallest letters possible. This item is for decoration but same design. I saw a seated dollar from Indonesia, good looking fake. Before i bid i looked at the description. Beautiful 18xx seated dollar au. sticks to magnet. Lol!!! It sold for over $250. Thats how they get away with it a tiny little note in the description. Always check the description.
Indeed. But the buyer wasn't a new eBay member (nearly 1000 transactions) so there must of been a compelling reason for the purchase. Possibly a fake collector?
