A quick lesson on Chinese fakes

I got a 1908-S IH which was on the end of one of those so called "un-searched rolls" a few years back and when I got the roll it was easy to tell it was fake (wrong color, texture and font). Fortunately I was able to work with the seller on getting a refund. If I'm looking at buying any rsw key date coin I spend a lot of time researching how to identify a genuine one.

 

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About,com from 2003, the image was part of the production of Big Tree Coin Factory in China.

The link to the story has been posted several times, but for those who may not have seen it
https://www.thespruce.com/chinese-coin-counterfeiting-ring-4071202

 

If you have every seen any of these up close, they would not fool anyone who has seen genuine coins before. They are actually pretty bad and obvious fakes.

 

Well that is good to know

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On the other hand, as I found out (after posting), that technology was 13 years ago; I'm sure they are still doing some kind of coppers, and the technique has no doubt improved greatly.

 

It has, but they get caught. Counterfeiting money and collectables has been around for as long as both have.

 

They are and it has, to the point where they have been getting them into genuine TPG holders from all four major services.

 

Or putting their fake coins into fake TPG holders...

 

Are these fakes? I can't find them in my book.

 

Most people intuitively believe all "cash" coins are from China; but similar pieces came from what is now Burma, Vietnam, Korea, all over eastern Asia.

They are a nightmare to catalog, so I don't.

 

So...I shouldn't buy that 100 oz silver bar from Craigslist for $200?

 

But putting their fake coins into their own fake holders doesn't demonstrate an improvement in the quality of their work. Being able to get them past the TPG graders and into genuine slabs does.

I think they are real, and they are Chinese, what book are you using?

 

It's the STANDARD CATALOG OF WORLD COINS. The chinese section is a maze to me. Thanks for the answer; I realize now this thread is about Chinese copies of US coins, eh?

 

Which century?

I don't have the time to check them right now,pressed for time, but I will try and identify them tomorrow.

 

19th. That could be my problem. Thanks for the help, no hurry.

 

Yep that's the problem. They are both 17th century.

Coin 001 is from Emperor Shun-chih 1644-1661
The reverse (coin 002) is upside down the simple character should be on the left hand side.
This is KM 296 (Schjoth 1408) It is a 1 cash coin from the Chekiang Mint
both characters on the reverse represent the mint name in two "languages" The left character is the Manchu "Je" and the right character is the chinese "Che".

Coin 004 is Emperor K'ang-hsi 1662-1722
the reverse (coin 003) is correctly oriented The left character "boo" could be roughly translated as coin or good coin. The right character ciowan indicates the Hu-pu Board of Revenue. So boo-ciowan is "coin of the Hu-pu board of Revenue"
It is KM 311.1 or 311.1b (Schjoth 1419) depending on the diameter. If it is 24 mm it is 311.1b, if it is 25 to 27 mm it is 311.1

Neither coin is particularly valuable The KM 296 is about $3 and the 311.1 either type is about $1

 

Burma... is now Myanmar

 

When the square-holed "cash" coins were issued, it was BURMA, or some native equivalent. Myanmar only dates from 1989. Same theory for Ceylon, renamed Sri Lanka in 1972, although that terminology is more official, whereas Burma was renamed by the decree of a military junta.

Same theory for Taiwan. No one in Chinese government calls the island "Taiwan". The terminology, with a wink and a nod, means something more in the sense of "renegade province".

By the way, the U.K. still calls the country "Burma".

 

One persistent problem for the Chinese is that they can't seem to make accurate copies of all four numerals in the dates.

That's what I look at first.

 

Wow, that's great info. Thanks for taking the time to look those up for me. My great-grandfather saved a lot of strange coins; I'm just getting to know them now.