Featured A "Family" of struck fake half cents

I see What you're saying about at least two obverse counterfeit hubs paired with the reverse counterfeit hub of C-6. I also noted an irregularity on the reverse from U just left of 1 of the denominator, left of fraction bar, left of 1 of the numerator to just short of the knot. You may have noted that already, but I noticed it. It pretty much precludes any possibility of the counterfeit being simply a tooled or earlier die state of a legitimate reverse. This is only on the 1804. The 1806 and 1807 have a strong break/connection at ER, so they are probably a different reverse counterfeit hub. I wonder how many families of these counterfeits there are and if these mix and match indicating a single source of these counterfeits?

This is so interesting and I'm such a rookie at detection. thanks for your fastidious study.

 

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Thanks for the observations Marshall!

There are some small common marks between the reverse of the fake 1804 and the 1806/1807- I did a combo image of these compared to the known genuine one. The small defect on the "U" appears to be common to only the counterfeits.

 

Perhaps 1804 is a later die state of the same counterfeit hub since it has the markings of the others as well as the additional irregularity.

 

This is a markup showing both the markings of the Counterfeit reverse HUB in white and the additional irregularity in green. Perhaps a later die state of the counterfeit HUB or perhaps a planchett flaw or PMD.

 

Wrote this up as an article and Coin Week posted it.

 

Great article. I am not into copper but it sure was good to read. Thanks!

 

I always enjoy your posts - they often sober me up and remind me to be very careful when purchasing even "certified" coins.

The high quality of counterfeits is one of the biggest reasons that I will never put big money into coppers (or really into any coins, honestly). That area is a minefield and I don't have the time to learn the details. And I really don't want to waste money, especially a lot of it, on coins that even the experts can't detect. Oiy.

 

Thank you for the response!

 

Ewomack we have found more high quality counterfeits in silver series/ denominations than early copper. Research is key and purchasing a coin in a TPG slab added security of your investment.

 

They counterfeit coins down to the AG/G/VG level because that is the grade level where they can comfortably acquire genuine coins to make die transfer counterfeits. It also helps with deceptiveness.

I’ve found that one should never make “logical rules” when it comes to counterfeits. These include “this is too common to fake” and “they would not find it worthwhile to fake a low-grade coin” and so on. The counterfeiters and the crooks who pander their wares prey on this thinking.

Here are a few examples from my collection:



What you must also be aware of is crooks who wear down and abuse the “new” counterfeits to make them look old. I’ve seen many, and they still screw unsuspecting buyers. The style of this example is plainly obvious, but worn-down die transfer counterfeits from Gallery Mint replicas can be extremely dangerous.

 

My new add- fraction has been worked over on this example. Have seen several on the internet lately.

 

Pics aren't great, when you mention (suspect tooling) are they all raw, or did some make into holders ?

 

Speaking for myself the 1804 half cents from my post are an intermediate level of deceptive struck counterfeits and I am not aware of any making it into TPG holders. The next level up of struck counterfeits (like the 1806 half cents I posted above) has many denominations and varieties that did get TPG certified genuine.