A fake coin in a genuine PCGS holder?

Price just went up !!

 

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Yup. Scary stuff. However, I believe the hyper-fakes getting by the TPGs are die-transfers.

I am almost certain that these seated halves, along with their entire generation of Chinese counterfeits, were created from dies made with CAD models. The date fonts are spot-on.

 

But the head is too small and looks goofy. And the stars are way off. Plus look at those arrows. Silly looking.

 

For those reasons, they aren’t die transfers. I believe that the design was 3D-scanned, then the features were “enhanced” (stars, hair, etc.), then the dates were mapped from genuine coins, and then the (master) dies were CNC-carved and hardened. The loss of style resulted from the scanning and post-scan modifications. I call this generation the “enhanced” counterfeits as they are made to look sharper than the real coins!

 

But they are only going to get better - eventually to the point where the design aspects of a counterfeit coin will be virtually indistinguishable from a real coin. One will have to resort to authentication by examining the physical aspects of the die itself. Looking to die cracks, gouges, scratches and other unique die characteristics and making a determination based on what is and is not there.

 

And mine:

 

Jack, are you saying your 1872-S half dollar is a counterfeit?

 

That was my impression as well. And the grading company missed it.

 

Yes, one of the latest struck fakes; it is included on the list I posted earlier on this post.

 

Geez! What next? This hobby is getting more and more complicated.

 

Not yet reported to PCGS yet, huh?

 

Hi, John Frost here, Education Director for the Liberty Seated Collectors Club. Actually the LSCC confirmed this particular issue (1872-S Seated half) as a fake in December 2016, after it was brought to our attention by one of our members (that coin was PCGS AU55). Subsequently, Jack Young discovered the AU53 PCGS piece from the Summer FUN 2016 auction that didn't match any known 1872-S and sent me an email with a link to the auction result -- I confirmed it was a match to our counterfeit - same diagnostics. The LSCC published a special bulletin in January 2017 announcing the counterfeit (http://www.lsccweb.org/144-Supplement-Jan2017-BOLO-1872S-counterfeit.pdf). Both the PCGS AU55 piece (our specimen) and the AU53 (Summer FUN specimen - Heritage recalled it) were brought to FUN 2017 and shown to the grading services, auction houses, and dealers on the show floor to bring it to their attention). So, all four "major" TPG services are aware of this counterfeit. The PCGS AU53 example was removed from the holder. The AU55 is still in the holder, but is no longer in the PCGS database of certified coins.

 

That particular piece may not be reported to PCGS but the fake has been known for what a year and a half or so. The obv was copied from a known 1872 Philadelphia die, and the reverse was copied from a known 1875 S die.

 

This particular piece was reported to PCGS and they were involved in removing it from their holder- I have the images (from an auction house where it sold last) and a copy of the cert. The "coin" is now in an ANACS genuine/ cleaned holder.
My point was there are much more deceptive pieces out there than some of the common ones seen and they are deceiving TPGs, collectors and dealers alike.
I have not seen the 1864-S HD from this post in the group of known bad yet.

And as another point of reference the edge reeding is from 1876!

https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/c...-1872-s-half-dollar-1-page-attribution-guide/

 

John Frost helped an early copper guy make sense of this one!

As a result I joined LSCC and actually had a brief article about this one published in the Journal.

 

I bought these in Guangzhou, in China:
At this shop:

 

That's truly depressing.

 

I agree.

 

They were about $6 each. I have no doubt they would have been cheaper if I spoke Cantonese.

 

These are all over eBay as it is. Sellers advertising fakes as "mementos" or saying " Real coin. No worry about this."

P.T. Barnum said " There's a sucker born every minute. ".

Hookman Brown says " There's a scammer born every second. ".