I am in the process of liquidating a large collection of coins from a friend that father passed away. He has several 1909 S VDB Pennies. I took them to a local dealer and was told that they where fake. But he did say that he would take them if I did not want to keep them. I know nothing about pennies. How can I verify if these pennies are authentic or not. ClearwaterCoins
Photos help Many here can point out details specifics for a REAL 1909 if good photos can be provided. Also consider using the SEARCH feature provided here and read the many previous post on this subject. Good Luck!
I would be a little concerned with any dealer that says certain coins are fake and then wants to buy them. Unless he can give me a really good reason such as he wants to display clearly marked fake coins to teach others about the differences.
Did he say he'd take them, or did he offer to take them at a discount? I agree it sounds suspicious. If you were Ballsy you could say sure, but let's carve "copy" in them first. I don't seriously suggest this, but would love to see the look on his face, expecially if he was trying to rip you off.
Here are a few images of some posted on different forum to help to determine if they are real or not: http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/coop49/1909svdbRLM_coins_REAL_DEAL_HOW_TO_TELL.jpg Others may have some to add. Thanks to RLM for these images.
The dealer's response sounds very suspicious to me. I would at least get a second opinion in person from another dealer, and not inform that second dealer what the first dealer said.
The whole thing is a little funny including the fact the collection includes "several" '09 S VDB's. I am anxious to see the pics. It would be nice to find a handfull of genuine coins.
