Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Publius2, post: 4965364, member: 105571&quot;]No, Parthicus&#039; coin is a Massachusetts cent, not a half-cent.&nbsp; Therefore it does not even figure into this discussion of the OP&#039;s coin.&nbsp; However, I got fairly close to identifying the die variety when I was looking at it because I initially could not determine that it was a half-cent.&nbsp; So, I started checking to see if it could be identified as a cent by the die variety since the denomination could not be discerned from the photograph.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I cannot say if the OP coin is legit or not.&nbsp; But die variety evidence strongly suggests that it is not a contemporary counterfeit.&nbsp; Usually, back in those days, counterfeiters would make up their own dies to simulate a genuine issue and those counterfeit coins struck from counterfeit dies have usually been identified by numismatists.&nbsp; Counterfeit coins created during the time of the original coins are called &quot;contemporary counterfeits&quot;.&nbsp; No contemporary counterfeits of the Massachusetts half-cents have been identified, that I can find.&nbsp; So, it very unlikely that the OP&#039;s coin is a contemporary counterfeit.</p><p><br /></p><p>It could, though, be a modern counterfeit.&nbsp; Modern counterfeiters use various techniques to create dies using a genuine coin as the model.&nbsp; So, it is not unusual in the least to find modern counterfeits with the die variety characteristics of genuine issues.&nbsp; In fact, that is one of the methods used to identify modern counterfeits of older coins. But, it can be very difficult ranging to impossible to determine if a particular coin is a modern counterfeit, particularly from photographs.&nbsp; I am not an expert in identifying modern counterfeits, although some here are (Jack D. Young for one, who has multiple threads on Coin Talk on the subject).&nbsp; He has documented numerous examples of early American copper coins that are modern counterfeits that have been slabbed as genuine by the major TPGs.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>When [USER=101855]@johnmilton[/USER] and others say the coin doesn&#039;t look genuine to them, I pay attention because these folks have a lot more experience than I do.&nbsp; I disagree with them only reluctantly and not categorically.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in