1914 D Penny - Genuine or Counterfeit?

Obviously if fakes are being produced, the 1914 D penny must be a collector coin. I'll have to check my wheat penny stash and see if I've got one. I have maybe a dozen or so pennies minted between 1910 and 1919.

 

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I wouldn't count it out, Joshua. In that condition of corrosion and wear all one is going on is the mint mark appears to be a little off. Look at the cleft under the sniffer, at how straight down that comes. That's indicative of a genuine. Did your dealer explain the reason he opines it's a counterfeit, or did he just tell you he like almost every dealer submits coins to PCGS and NGC? This one still has questions, you ask me. It could be an altered 1914 Philly, that's about the only realistic possibility, it's an added mark. One thing I know, no dealer can tell you that, not on a coin in this condition. If that's a question, you need an analyst, not a guy who sells coins. Personally, I'd let ICG handle it. They're the more honest. Just my opinion. Submit it to them, see whether they'll attribute it. You've questions on it, you won't get the "blow off," they'll answer them. Lestways, in my experience.

 

That die chip on the inside of the left wheat ear appears on tons of counterfeits. Maybe it was copied from some genuine coin with the same chip, but that coin wasn't a 1914-D, or a 1931-S, or a 1911-S, or any of the other key and semi-key dates that are commonly faked with that same reverse.

The wear and corrosion on this coin aren't nearly enough to explain that feature, the blobby letters on both sides, or the ghostly doubled rim on both sides -- all common features on low-quality fakes. If there is a genuine 1914-D that looks like this, I'd love to see proof, because I'd have a lot of mental recalibration to do.

 

He told me his impression was that a lot was wrong. For starters, the MM does not match any known die. Second, the details were not sharp enough. Lastly, he has handled several 1914 D's and nothing "spoke" to him of this coin being real.

 

Pick me. Pick me

 

Not a real D

 

Good catch. I like that

 

Thanks for sharing

 

This was fun

 

Looks like position "CN" to me...


Seems like a no-brainer; useful link @-jeffB Thanks!

 

So anyone want to take a shot at why that reverse die? If this is a 1914 Philly with an added mark, they only did it on those with that reverse die? Explain this a little better, how this counterfeit happened, and every one coupled with that reverse die.

 

The Chinese continue to create counterfeits within a series with a common reverse die. One of the most prolific recently are all of the various dated "Morgans" with this counterfeit "CC" die:



Like I often say, thankfully they are NOT numismatists...

 

The die chip nailed it but there are other indicators. The reverse die with the chip can be found on fake S mint Lincolns from 1909 to 1915, and 31 S, It also shows up on fake 1914 D's and fake 1943 copper cents. The obverse was probably copied from a 1914 plain and they punched the D into the die. The style of the D doesn't match the genuine D's.