When did these first hit the market? I bought a collection that was supposedly willed to the seller over 50 years ago. All of the coins came back straight graded however there was a T$1 that came back labeled as cast. Maybe these have been around longer than I thought!
I believe trade dollars were used in trade with China so what do you expect. They've been counterfeiting everything forever. Of course Americans are no Saints when it comes to counterfeiting either. The racketeer gold-plated nickel comes to mind.
People tend to think counterfeits are a recent phenomenon of the last 20 years but counterfeits are nothing new. This is especially true with items that have any possible historical ties to China. I recall old stories of ancient Chinese knife money being passed down through generations that turned out to be fake. At any rate, if you just had one come back as being cast I think you did pretty well with the lot!
Look up fourree...here's what Forum says... A fourree is a coin, most often a counterfeit, struck with a base metal core that has been plated with a precious metal to look like its official solid metal counterpart. The term derived from a French word meaning "stuffed,‟ is most applied to ancient silver plated coins such as Roman denarii and Greek drachms, but may be used to describe any plated coin.
There have been counterfeit coins for as long as there have been coins. Some things never change. Human nature, for example.
