Sometimes they are (or were) not as bad as their current reputation. http://www.coinlink.com/News/counterfeits-fraud/when-fakes-become-collectable/
I personally think there's nothing wrong with counterfeits, as long as they are sold as such. I own a few myself, of coins I will probably never be able to afford and it's a great way to fill a hole cheaply. Ribbit
Contemporary counterfeit bust halves are often worth as much or more than genuine coins in similar condition. In the Conder token field the contemporary counterfeits are cataloged right along with the genuine tokens in the standard reference and are collected as part of the series. Some of the varieties of the state coppers are actually contemporary counterfeits. All of the Machins Mills halfpence, which are worth a significant amount, are contemporary counterfeits. One reason for the existance of electrotypes that was missed in the article was that in the early days of variety collecting there weren't good references with quality photos available. Owners of rare varieties would have electros made and distribute them to their collector friends. This would give them a hole filler until they could acquire a specimen, and give them a comparison piece that they could use to confirm the attribution when they thought they had found one.
