I have been looking a little for some upgrades, I cant believe the amount of counterfeit Seated Dollars and Flowing hair Half Dimes out there...
You're correct. Many of those counterfeits are from China. And the Chinese are now putting out some high quality counterfeits.
Most of my high quality type coins i bought over 15 years ago and i am sure they are authentic. But now I am gun shy with some of these raw coins.
Don't be so sure. Quite often collectors, even after 50 years or more, are shocked to find that many of their coins are fakes. I would in fact say that it is less common for them NOT to find fakes in their collection than it is for them TO find fakes.
I should never say never, but I am pretty scrupulous with the coins I buy so it would be very rare if i did have a fake. Although some of my choice ones will be slabbed soon so I will let you know if i was duped
Yep yep yep Fakes galore... http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/Chinese-Counterfeiting-Ring/Chinese-Fake-Morgan-Dollars.htm I use this link almost every time I talk of counterfeits... SCARY
Its like the age of innocence for USA numismatics is gone :crying: I know there has always been counterfeits, but the magnitude of what it is today is staggering...
Not really, it's always been that way. It's just that most people were not aware of it. As they say, ignorance is bliss - there's a reason they say that.
To back up what Doug is saying about it being a problem for a long time I present one of my rarest and favorite pieces of reference. I wouldn't sell this book for all the tea in China. This is the Diffenbacher Counterfiet Gold Coin guide. This was published in 1963 and has almost 500 pages. It covers world and United States counterfiet gold coins. I know silver coins have become more common to counterfiet lately but this just goes to show that this was such a problem in the 60's that this reference was published... Imagine how many of these are sitting in collections (or dealer cases) as original pieces with patina and toning. Maybe even in slabs?
Problem is it isn't the easiest book to locate and if you are interested in just US coins it is a little disappointing because it only lists a couple, or at least that was true with both of my copies.) Still examination of the characteristics seen on the foreign coins can help you learn to recognize them on other US fakes. There's a better reference but it is even harder to find and considerably more expensive It comes out as a monthly supplement from an organization International association of Professional Coin Dealers. It has detailed pictures of various counterfeit coins with a new counterfeit or two being listed each month. The last copy I saw was listed at over $300. The ANA used to have a similar program back in the 1970's with new counterfeits being listed each month. They came out in an 8 1/2 X 5 1/2 format with quality glossy photos. Some of the issues on US coins were eventually grouped together to become the ANA Counterfeit detection book. But the photos in the book were not as good as the monthly supplements. I have never seen a full set of the ANA monthly issues.
........speaking of counterfeit coins from china. if that's not enough to worry about NOW you have to worry about your next HUMMER!
