Contemporary Counterfeits

So I think almost 2 years ago I got hooked on contemporary counterfeit coins. Unlike modern fakes made to fool collectors of today, counterfeits would have been made to be spent at face value. These pieces have fantastic history and are quite rare in most cases. There has been a growing popularity for these coins throughout recent years, including a particular club dedicated to the collecting and attribution of capped bust half dollar counterfeits. The Contemporary Counterfeit Capped Bust Half Dollar Club or ccCBHcc, all started with the book written by Keith R. Davignon, in which Davignon numbers are used to attribute these spectacular pieces.

Not only capped bust halves were counterfeited but almost every type of US coin leading up to the twentieth century have examples of contemporary counterfeits, although I have yet to see a counterfeit cent and am not quite sure any were made.

For me, these pieces have really fascinated me. So here is the start of my black cabinet. If you have any, I would love to see more examples.

This piece was my first counterfeit and the one that started it all.


This is an 1870 counterfeit shield nickel. It is 1870 number 1 listed in Fletcher's guide to sheild nickels. This piece was struck from hand carved dies and weighs in at 4.15 grams, almost a gram too light. Note the artificial wear on the center of the coin. This was done to help the piece "blend" in and cover up any crude details. Base metal I assume is nickel but am not sure.



Next up is not a US coin obviously. This is a 1900 British Trade Dollar. Like the US trade dollar, these coins were meant for trade in China and the Orient. No surprise that these were counterfeited but I have yet to see another example. Again, this one appears to be struck with very crude hand carved dies and struck in bronze. It weighs 24.01 grams, almost 3 grams too light and has a diameter of 37mm, 2mm too small.



Back to America, here is an 1858 Seated Liberty half dollar cast in what appears to be brass. The cast looks to be from an authentic obverse and reverse. Note the porous surfaces and lack of details. Some traces of silver wash remain present as well. Weight is 10.21 grams with a diameter of 29mm.



Another Seated half, this time dated 1874 with arrows. This piece is kind of a mystery. It appears to be cast, once agian from authentic obverse and reverse, but made from some sort of pot metal I cant identify. It is very light at only 9.43 grams.



Last we have a Capped Bust half. At first glance this piece could pass as a real one, it even has the correct edge lettering. It is listed as Davignon 1-A, extremely common. The first thing that caught my eye was the slight yellowing of the metal, next the unusual longer face of liberty. The eagle on the reverse is actually missing its eye, and then the 5 is completely wrong for this year. This one was struck in german silver and weighs 12.25 grams.

I just picked a much more scarce bust half tonight and will post it when i get it.

Thanks for looking and hope to see more.

 

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Got any morgans

 

Cool stuff!

 

Not yet. I hope to. When my budget is a bit more flush I would like a nice micro O example, possibly in an old ANACS slab

 

Good luck. The guys that have identified ones in TPG plastic will be buried with them

 

I guess i will have to pry one from their cold dead hands lol

 

I have well over a hundred fakes in my collection. Good ones are hard to find. I bought three small binders from a dealer last year just to get twenty of the ones I wanted that were deceptive or contemporary. They can be hard to find. Be careful when collecting these. Many 20th century issues are lead casts and who knows when they were made. They are too crude to fool anyone. Lots of these were in the collection above and you have posted two.

The bust half dollar and shield nickel are your two best ones that I should buy if I had the chance. Don't pay too much for casts. The modern stuff coming out of china are more deceptive and much more appealing to me. Especially the coins that pass the TPGS.

 

Those were the most expensive of the 5. The two seated liberty's were dirt cheap pickups as was the trade dollar. I know there are some collectors out there who collect CC british trade dollars.

The shield nickel was actually a topic by the seller on another forum that i found after I bought it. I think I still stole it around 70 bucks.

The 1833 was from mbarrcoins off ebay. I talked him down on price. He had it listed as a remodeled portrait.

I just picked an 1822 Davignon 2-B bust tonight, for nothing off ebay. Im excited for that one.

 

That's an interesting idea for a collection. Really cool.

 

I'm also very interested in contemporary counterfeits and have posted quite a few here over the years. Very cool and historical area that I feel is under appreciated in numismatics.

About that 1874 half, it looks to be cast from a zinc base, something that was popular around the 1930's.

Also here are some CC's I've posted here that you and others may find of interest

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/an-interesting-contemporary-counterfeit-1838-half-dollar.195045/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/three-mexican-counterfeits-two-contemporary-one-modern.196752/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/co...ts-1845-cent-any-non-regal-collectors.199205/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1802-silver-contemporary-counterfeit-8-reales-wrong-assayer.246795/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1788-chile-2-reales-contemporary-counterfeit-kleeberg-type.275949/

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/malay-peninsula-kelantan-10-keping-contemporary-counterfeit.282382/

This is not contemporary, but relevant

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/fakes-meant-to-deceive-vs-those-that-are-not.267376/

 

Micro-O Morgans

When they do sell they go in the low to mid four figures now. There are some other TPG's like PCI that will certify them as "not of government origin" etc but they do not have the same allure as say PCGS. The uncertified coins generally trade in the $75-200 range depending on the grade. Very rarely do they ever turn up in what would appear to be BU - the coins were apparently tumbled to give them a circulated appearance when they were made, to give them the look of having circulated - and it worked obviously. Though they were counterfeit they were not even suspected as such until decades after they left normal circulation.

I have a whole study group of the coins - they are very fascinating.

 

I still have this one.

 

I have done a fair amount of research on these and the other coins in the "family" of VAM-listed privately-made Morgan Silver Dollars. I've even presented a talk about them at a couple local coin clubs: http://www.moonlightmint.com/VAM_privately_made/00.htm

Most of these coins are quite worn - they circulated freely alongside genuine coins for decades. Even VF specimens are pretty scarce. Anything above that is rare. Only two UNC specimens from the entire family are known. The second highest graded coin in the entire "family" is an MS-61 1901-O VAM-60 (which is not a micro-o, but it was made by the same entity).

Earlier this year I was lucky to snag this 1896-o micro-o (unattributed) off eBay for a relative pittance. It is the highest known grade of any VAM-listed privately-made Morgan, by at least three grade points (MS-64). I can't think of any other contemporary counterfeit, from any series, that has this state of preservation:

 

Love those Contemporary Counterfeits 3- Cent pieces from 1851-1862 are my choice !

 

Actually, that is not true. These coins have held their pre/discovery prices very well. From what I have heard, not that many were returned to the TPGS for compensation. ICG puts them in their "Yellow Label" educational slab and many Morgan dollar collectors still wish to have examples in their collection.

In the 1970's when new counterfeits were discovered, word got out and the coins dropped off the market. The "Micro O" dollars were accepted as rare genuine coins for decades and were slabbed by all the TPGS. They were in dealers stocks and had been sold into private collections by Morgan dollar experts. To remove these counterfeits from the market would have been an economic disaster so they became "acceptable" to own.

Since their discovery, many more dollars of different dates (that were bought /sold as genuine) have been discovered to be fakes from the same maker and time period. I own several. Unfortunately none that have been slabbed. The best place to find them is in junk lots of G-XF Morgans. The 1899-O seems to be the most common.

 

Here is one that I inherited as part of my father's collection. What can you tell me about it?

 

Get the green off so it is saved for the next generation. Don't rub the coin when you do it.

 

Thanks for posting your presentation! It is now in my favorites and I will read it later. I have seen three Uncirculated 1896-"Micro O" dollars over the years.

A little more history on these fakes. The name of the authenticator and Morgan dollar experts is withheld:

Decades ago counterfeit 1896-P Morgan's were detected at INSAB. Later, the ANACS authenticators also detected these and published an article in the Numismatist. The column is also in the Counterfeit Detection Reprint. The surface of these coins was microscopically granular and the relief was mushy. All coins seen were AU-UNC.

The first 1896 "Micro-O" counterfeit detected at a TPGS was sent to PCI in TN. The coin was Uncirculated. Microscopically, it was just as the 96-P so the same authenticator who detected the 1896-P's years earlier called the coin counterfeit! Nevertheless, the coin was sent to a Morgan dollar expert who disagreed. The coin went out of PCI as genuine in a "Signature" slab from that "expert."

When the authenticator left PCI to join another TPGS, he was able to convince NGC to stop certifying the "Micro O" counterfeits dated 1896, 1899, and 1902. Several years later, the other TPGS followed. There has been extensive research on the die marriages and other dates have turned up, several with large "O" reverses.

Some of this may be in the D. Carr presentation as I have not read it yet.

 

This is one of the common lead cast fakes that is not deceptive at all. The most I have ever paid was for an AU - $5. You can find them in junk boxes for $1 unless I got there first and the coin was undamaged.

 

Love what you all have posted so far. Some of the pieces are rather crude and obvious, but a couple would have fooled me (OP Bust half and @dcarr's micro-O).

Anybody have an example of a Henning nickel without the looped R (especially if it's not a 1944)?