I upgraded my 1848 this morning (a real one) and saw this while checking the coinfacts app. I didn't know PCGS slabbed counterfeit coins and I don't recall seeing one listed right with the real thing before. I was expecting to find a red book variety I wasn't aware of and found this instead. "Plain and simple, the 1848 Small Date Large Cent is a counterfeit, and probably a contemporary one. However, it has been accepted as a collectible coin by the copper community and brings strong prices whenever it appears at auction. Virtually all of the known examples are on over-sized planchets, often double-struck or overstruck on other coins, and at least two show one or more planchet clips. Breen knew of seven in 1988; today the population is 10-12 examples. The Dan Holmes collection (sold in 2011) contained three examples."
Well, PCGS doesn't slab other contemporary counterfeits, but they slab this one. Interesting. Honestly, we need a grading service that specializes in contemporary counterfeits.
I have always been on the lookout for one of these. I also look through all the 1849's to try and find an actual counterfeit that this article discusses. Counterfeit Cent Story Unusual One By Paul M. Green, Numismatic News June 28, 2012 http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ArticleId=25383
They slab Machins Mills pieces and those are contemporary counterfeits. They would slab a Vermont Ryder-5 and that is a contemporary counterfeit Well they don't specialize in them but ICG will slab counterfeits. They use a special label for that.
