New member, old collector. Been collecting since 1973, serious the last 4 years. My middle son wanted to go to Kim's Gun Show in San Antonio yesterday. This is a tale of "an old guy should know better". Bought some decent coins and saw a 1921 peace dollar in a $25 bin (more on that coin later). Then I ran into a guy with miscellaneous trays of coins. When I saw a 1955 double die in VF/XF condition for $25, I should have ran away. When I saw the 1964 peace dollar, I should have started laughing. But, I bought some trade dollars, a couple warn/rare Peace and Morgan dollars, a 1921 d mercury dime, and the double die. 11 coins, $275. I've never run into blatant counterfeiting before. They guy said he knew nothing of coins, but other collectors verified weights and metallic content (odd thing to say if you're legit). I get home, and verify they are all forgeries. The main give away was the thickness. I didn't have a scale, but they felt right on weight. However, they are much thicker than good Peace or Morgans. I don't have trade dollars, and didn't realize the 1878 cc is a rare proof. I was more ticked than anything else. I was able to go back today (yes, Easter Sunday) to get my money back. The guy (I can't call him a dealer) said he said they might not be genuine. I had to threaten him, regarding the impact of selling counterfeit currency, to get my money (that and my wife being there, he was pretty intimidated by her - she was more pissed than me). Pictures below. Yes, lots of lessons - use reputable dealers, make sure you can get your money back, and if it is too good to be true, it is. Now, about that 1921 peace dollar. I just ordered a scale and caliper, but this looks like a legit peace dollar, but it can't be a 1921 (the relief isn't high, the crown spikes go too far into the E in Liberty, and the 1 in the d ate is too far to the right of the designer initials). Not sure what I have here, but I wasn't too concerned because it was only $25. I'm guessing it won't match dimensions or weight, but is feels and sounds like solid silver.
Ugh. Go back next time and ask for a refund... you did get a receipt, right? Better than real coins and counterfeit guns...
Glad to hear you got your money back. Lesson learned, not only for you, but also for others on the forum. Thanks for posting, and welcome to Coin Talk. TC
Not quite. I knew some of the others were fake (I didn't buy them), but felt if any of the ones I bought were good, I would have done OK. I should have assumed they were all fake.
If a table has 3 fakes, assume all of the good ones are also. Especially very rare ones like the 55/55. But happy you got it settled. A gun show would be the last place to start a physical argument Jim
Anytime someone says "I don't know anything about coins". And has rare coins to sell, they are always fake. I guess they think they are not liable since they don't claim to know if they are real or fake. Another lie is, these were my grandmothers coins, etc. (Or some other relative.)
Dealers know when they are selling fakes. Report them to the show owner. Gun dealers may not care what you have to say but they don't want to create waves with the show owner.
I'm glad you and your wife were there to get your money back. But a "serious collector" would have never bought those. Those are awful, silly looking fakes.
wow excellent info.im so never doing old coins.being a newby im clueless.i just wonder if other then size and weight how to protect ones self from being a victim.
Bad bunch of fakes. Especially the trade dollars especially the 1884 and the 78-cc. NEVER buy a raw trade dollar if you don’t know what your doing. You might be ok on a 76-8 s or 77p but almost every cc mint I see is fake. Have I bought raw cc trade dollars yes I have and they’re real. But I’m not a newbie on the series. Glad you got your money back
Did you tell him that knowingly selling counterfeits is punishable by up to a $250000 fine and 15 years in prison? The way they were priced, he knew they were fake. Claiming ignorance or saying they “might” be fake will still put him squarely on the wrong side of the law. My thoughts exactly
Look at as many known genuine coins as possible. After awhile you get to the point that when you see a fake they will usually just kind of "announce" themselves. You may not be able to say exactly why they are fake, but when you see them alarm bells just start going off in your head. Once you have seen enough genuine a fake just doesn't look right. You won't spot all of them, but you will get most of them
