So I was wondering if there were any good references out there for counterfeit coins. I walked into a coin shop about a year ago and talked with the owner for a while. At one point he pulled out a small bin of counterfeit coins (mostly morgans) that people brought in to sell to him over the course of time. He said most people didn't realize they weren't real - a lot of those people weren't collectors but people just looking to dump silver for quick cash. Anyway, he had me look through the bin and I have to say most were easy to tell that they were fake. Some were really good and could have passed with some folks. Bottom line it scared the hell out of me. I didn't want to buy a coin for a long time. Anyone ever get burned buying a fake? Any good reference books or sites out there to help sharpen the eye?
Assemble a known-to-be-good set of the specific coins you tend to buy, perhaps "holed" to keep the price down. That helps. Coin magazines (not so much, newspapers) run illustrated articles on fakes all the time. Start a file.
Key is to buy from someone you trust who will backup the coin. I would never buy an expensive key date (i.e. Lincoln S VDB) without it being slabbed and certified (they will buy back if deemed inauthentic). As for reference books, read the regular books first. Know the strike for the year, the color tendencies (e.g. S mint had an insanely low number of authentic red 1926 coins that year). If you can see the red herrings early, you can weed out many fakes. And don't discount the internet. Trade dollars are very suspect, just do some searches and our fellow coin nuts have probably posted pics of fakes. Finally, Coin World and other publications have many articles that detail counterfeits and their characteristics. Reality is that if we can't trust the coins we buy, the hobby dies...and no one wants that!
There are two types of coin collectors: those who have been burned, and those who lie about never having been burned. There is only a single effective weapon against being deceived by a counterfeit, and that weapon is your own personal expertise on the issue in question. Sticking to slabbed coins of high-risk examples is imperative for those who don't yet know that issue well enough to make informed decisions about it.
I started a reference set of counterfeit coins almost 40 years ago to go along with my reference set of mutilated coins. It is so much easier to be able to pull out an example of what we here call "PMD" and show the customer that what they have happens all the time. Many of the counterfeits are your basic cast replicas but I have found myself adding more gold coins that have fooled me and gone for grading. Some of those are very tough to tell. Especially the $1 type I's and the Indian heads.
These two will be as much help to you as any - https://www.amazon.com/Official-Gui...ywords=coin+grading+and+counterfeit+detection https://www.amazon.com/Counterfeit-...=united+states+gold+and+counterfeit+detection The first covers all US series but only provides the basics and most common counterfeits, and the 2nd US gold only and is bit more comprehensive.
Plus, the way to get free shipping from Amazon without joining is to buy enough underwear or toothpaste or coffee or Pepto Bismol or aspirin, etc., until your total order exceeds $40 (or whatever the total is now).
Just about everybody who collects coins has at least one and usually more than one counterfeit (or altered coin) in their collection - and they don't even know it. And yeah, that included me too at one time.
In regards to references, I enjoy looking at counterfeit examples on various coin forums. Buying a counterfeit coin in a counterfeit "slab" is not the solution. I am in the market for a key date US cent. See attached auction listing (with happy buyer feedback) of a recent counterfeit that sold on eBay for $1,075 (well below retail). You almost need to become an expert in the coin series you want to buy & select a reputable coin seller/dealer. http://www.ebay.com/itm/232206547615?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Good luck.
I bought an 1876-S trade dollar last year from a dealer friend. It was raw, so I asked him if he would guarantee it authentic and he said yes. After a month I got it back from ANACS in a body bag. The dealer refunded my shipping fees and other expenses involved. I still don,t own a trade dollar and probably won,t buy another raw one. In fact, I,m very leery of buying any ungraded coin in the future if it,s a valuable one. E- Bay is loaded with fakes and mutilations. Most of them are raw coins so be extra careful with them. I always check the authenticity of graded coins, but if a price seems too good to be true, then it probably is, so I,m also cautious of buying cheap graded coins.
Its getting difficult as we are constantly flooded with Modern forgeries from China. Realize that contemporary circulating counterfeits or counterfeits that were issued with the real (regal) pieces in the same time period generally take on a good premium in some cases. Consider the Gurney GNL Eight Reales (Amazon Book) or the Davignon Bust Half U.S. Dollars still being researched by Larry Schmidt that are generally made of German Silver and go for 2-3X a real one in the SAME circulated condition as a regal. See the Larson book on counterfeits. Normally in your specialty someone has written an article. In the summer I am coming out with a book but its mainly geared for contemporary circulating counterfeit collectors and will probably be too advanced for 90% of the collectors in this channel and has no ancient information which takes years and volumes. I do put in a chapter of Chinese Modern Forgery detection methods. Titled: "Forgotten Coins of the American Colonies - 25th Anniversary". It will cover Canadian Blacksmiths, Foreign Counterfeits 1500-1850, Spanish American Counterfeits, English Copper Counterfeits 18-19th C, Chinese Modern Forgeries and a review of the Mike Ringo Collection of English/Irish counterfeits sold by Stacks in 2008. Over 1000 coins will have full XRF assays in the book. If all this is confusing just buy slabs and from reputable dealers in your specialty. You will always be paying top dollar but that is this price you pay if you are just a casual accumulator which is ~95% of the people in this hobby. IMO. John Lorenzo Numismatist United States
So I've always presumed that the higher mintage non key dates are far less suspect than the big ticket items. Hence, I really haven't given it a second thought buying any MS Philly Lincoln and even the semi-keys I've only looked for the typical cleaning or questionable color coins. What's the lowest value coin any of you have encountered as a counterfeit? One popular coin I've seen that is often counterfeited is the Engelhard Prospector Proof which was quite easy to spot and way to low on price, though that's private issue bullion and really doesn't count.
Just about any Lincoln wheat cent is available on Chinese copy sites for $1.49 & shipping. Not sure why somebody would want to buy a 1927-p Lincoln counterfeit cent for $1.49 + shipping in au condition but you can. If you are searching eBay for a particular coin & review 300+ search results, you are likely to find a counterfeit or suspect looking coin.
I recommend attending the ANA summer seminar courses on grading & counterfeit detection. Check www.money.org & click on the summer seminar.
4-5 years ago I got one of those Chinese counterfeits of a 1936 cent in a roll search. I knowingly collect older, ie monetary counterfeits - up until 1920. Most of course are pretty crude, but some are quite convincing. IE the Micro-O Morgans from 1896, 1900 and 1902.
Best advice I can give is quite simple. DO NOT buy raw coins online. That will help your cause tremendously.
