I have heard about fake coins and bullion and am concerned about what is the risk on that and I have doubts about my ability to tell a fake myself. I have been to a couple of coin shops which appear to be well established in the area and have been around for years. one of them says this on their website: we are an authorized coin dealer for the following: The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) and Factory Authorized White Metal Detector Dealer. and they are listed here as well: http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/american_eagles/index.cfm?action=lookup ================== Where can I find news about where the fakes appear or learn more on this so I can get some sort of idea or feeling of confidence ?
The risk of fakes is high! Especially when buying overseas or unfamiliar Dealers at prices that seem to good to be true, TPG,S offer some Comfort on its authenticity and grade, I no longer buy anything that Isnt slabbed!!
If they're listed on the U.S. Mint website, you can probably trust them. Counterfeit coins and bullion do exist, but they're a small part of the population, and you can easily avoid them by: 1) Educating yourself. 2) Dealing with individuals with positive reputations. 3) Not dealing with individuals you cannot track down (i.e. overseas). As far as coins, you can purchase coins in top-tier slabs, which provides some assurance, although I have seen counterfeit coins in genuine slabs, and I have seen counterfeit slabs. It all comes down to education and trust.
First off, welcome to CT. As for the odds of getting a counterfeit, it depends on where and what you buy. If you are buying uncertified 1909-S VDB's from eBay, I would say your odds are about 50/50; if the 1909-S VDB's are certified by PCGS or NGC (or a couple others), your odds might be 1/100; and if you are buying them certified from Heritage, Bowers and Merena, or other such national auction, I would say your chance are about nil. Also, pretty much the more popular and more expensive the coin, the more likely it is to be counterfeited. BTW, cannot comment specifically on your coin stores, but they have got to fall somewhere between eBay and Heritage. If they are ANA certified, they have got to be closer to Heritage than eBay.
As long as you buy from trusted and reputable dealers you have little to worry about regarding counterfeits. For even if they sell you a fake, they will refund your money. Reputable dealers offer lifetime guarantees on authenticity. That said, just because a dealer has full page ads in the coin mags and large tables at the coin shows - that does NOT mean that they are a reputable and trusted dealer. Some of those kind are among the worst. And some of the smallest dealers that you never heard of are among the best. To find out who is who - ask about specific dealers before buying from them.
Welcome to the site. I'm assuming you are early on in the hobby so it is good that you are initially concerned about this, rather than buying and worrying about it later! Like so many do. It is a concern. There have been many debates here over whether or not something was real or not. Many times it is Morgan dollars. The Chinese are kicking out really good ones nowadays, made with the proper metal content. Sometimes not. Fortunately, many of them look 'off' in one way or another and can be spotted. Sometimes they are a dull gray/green, or off in color. Unnaturally shiny. Features are too small or too big. Reeded edge looks bad. Raised metal blobs that shouldn't be there. Surfaces are grainy. Devices in wrong locations. Many times the Morgans look like MS-69s without the price tag so you know something's up. "Mainly", I would be concerned with higher dollar stuff. But keep in mind there are fakes out there for almost everything. Relatively common, Indian head cents, Lincoln cents, semi-keys, common silver Washington quarters, Barber dimes, etc., etc.... The Chinese have thousands of replicas for sale on ebay every day. The average person to beginning collector probably couldn't spot one in hand. Some collectors like to buy the cheap replicas to fill the last couple holes in their album set because they can't afford the real ones. Then the person dies and the family wants to sell the set and they don't know there's fakes in it. That's just one scenario. Keep in mind, all those replica stamped coins on ebay, are NOT stamped at all. They advertise as being stamped so they can run the auction but when they send them, there is no stamp anywhere on them. I know for a fact that several people are buying these from China and have seen at least one former buyer, passing them off as real on the selling side. Don't bother asking. Ebay does nothing to stop the Chinese sellers. Read, handle lots of stuff, get a good caliper and scale, and get to know every detail of what real coins should look like. I am also quite confident in the third party grader's abilities in weeding out 99.99% of fakes. Also get used to the different types of slabs companies such as NGC have used over the years. There are fake slabs out there too now, though I've never seen one in person.
Very well said. My favorite coin dealer is a small coin shop is probably almost completely unknown outside the county. I've never even seen him set up at a coin show. But I don't even worry or even think about authenticity when making a purchase. It sound wierd, but I trust the guy with my life!
I should add, I am interested mainly in bullion or eagles for investment purposes and am not a collector of old coins .. thanks
WELCOME TO THE FORUM. As to the possibility of buying a fake, impossible. : Example: Someone I know that has been a coin dealer for well over 50 years considered himself a real expert. He purchased a 1916D Mercury Dime from someone. He sent it to a TPG for slabbing. It came back body bagged as fake. Even some professionals can't tell for sure. You just really, really have to be carefull.
Great advice so far. As far as bullion goes, you can always weight it. However, I only buy my bullion coins from a select few reputable dealers. TC
Even the bullion coins are counterfeited. There have been US bullion fakes produced as well as fakes from other countries. ASE's are even made with the wrong dates on them ! As I said before, buy ONLY from trusted dealers and you will have no concerns.
