Contemporary Counterfeits

Zinc based pot metal cast, somewhere from 1930 to 50

 

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I have several cast lead counterfeits including a 1909 Indian Head cent (I don't know why anyone would bother with that). I generally don't collect cast counterfeits, but I've ended up with a few anyway, and a couple are fairly high grade for that sort of thing.

But I do usually collect any die-struck vintage counterfeits. I'm in the market for the 1923-D and 1930-D "Soviet" dimes, but I've never seen one offered for sale. That 1848 small-date large cent is really neat too.

Here is a currently unlisted die-struck vintage counterfeit 1877 half dollar that I came across last year:



I spotted this on eBay a couple years ago. It is the only vintage counterfeit Morgan Dollar from hand-cut dies that I am aware of (this one is about .800 fine silver):



And here is one you don't see every day. A genuine-looking circulated 1893-O Morgan in a recent PCGS slab. But if you look closely, you will see that it has the wide gap between the back of the Eagle's neck and wing (which is the reverse hub type of 1900). So this is a privately-made VAM-6:

 

Interesting topic and example pieces. Since the topic is basically about US coinage, the differentiation probably makes sense. Elsewhere however, modern counterfeits are also produced as means of payment. Think of the £1 (to be replaced with a new and more secure type now), the Swiss 5 fr, the €2 coin, etc.

On the other hand, people like Carl Wilhelm Becker made "imitations" of ancient and medieval coins in order to fool collectors. That was around 1800, and among his customers were people such as Goethe and Rothschild ...

Christian

 

Yes, I didn't remember getting one in change.

 

That morgan is sweet. Even better that it is in TPG plastic too

 

Interesting. Do Becker's pieces have any collectabilty today?

 

Yes. I believe I once saw a book: "Becker the Counterfeiter"

 

Let us not forget the unauthorized DM coins struck during the 1950s in the German mints. Would you have any back story on those? I also have wondered why the 1948 50DM banknote was demonetized so long ago? Forgeries or more unauthorized printings?

 

Yup, published by George F. Hill in the 1920s. And Becker's "creations" (he made copies, but also coins that could have been) are sought after just as regular coins. Just did a quick search, and here is an article in English about him ...

Christian

 

Don't think there were any. What you have in mind was the Karlsruhe Mint Scandal, I think: In one of the then four West German mints, several unauthorized coins were produced in the 1970s. The mint director and a few others were involved in the production of about 1,700 coins (copies of rare pieces, or coins that the Karlsruhe mint did not have a Feds order for) with a total market value of roughly half a million DM. Interestingly, in the opinion of the first (lower) court this was theft and fraud but not counterfeiting "because what an official mint produces cannot be fake". Well, later the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decided that what counts is that these coins were made without any government order. Full text of the BGH decision in German: https://www.jurion.de/Urteile/BGH/1977-09-27/1-StR-374_77 So yes, they were counterfeits.

The former, I believe. After all, the note can basically be redeemed like any other DM note. So it is still worth its face value, and you get €25.56 for it. However, it has to be submitted to the Bundesbank's Analysis Center, so this is not the usual "put DM on the counter and get € back" procedure.

Christian

 

This was sold as a contemporary counterfeit but you never really know when they're made.

 

That actually looks genuine, with some minor environmental impairment.

 

I never liked the look of the mintmark but you probably know better than I do. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I bought it and just put it away rather than doing any proper research.

 

Becker replicas are highly collectible. Here's an article from Coin World on Becker: http://www.coinworld.com/news/us-co...-among-most-prolific--famous-forgers.all.html

 

I don't think so, he was active in the 1940's.

 

My new book coming out in about 4-5 months on Contemporary Counterfeits and Material Analysis you will find very useful IMO. I cover over 1,000 different types with full XRF analysis, references and alloy descriptions. Keep an eye out for it = early 2017 via Amazon Books.

John Lorenzo
Numismatist
United States

P.S. See the CC Eight Reales book now on sale via Amazon Books (author: Robert Gurney) which has a lot of indirect information for you on CC's even if you do not collect Spanish-American CC Types.

 

Are you kidding me Dan. A 93o v6 in very recent pcgs plastic. You're killing me with your finds brother!

 

Hmm, according to the article that I linked to in post #49 (and Paul M. linked to it in post #54), Becker the Counterfeiter was "published in 1924." Another article about Becker is here by the way https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Wilhelm_Becker but that is in German and does not mention Hill's book ...

Christian

 

Don't confuse Becker the counterfeiter, with Peter Rosa AKA Becker (Becker Reproductions). Peter Rosa made copies of colonials and other items in the 40's under the name Becker. Becker the Counterfeiter was Carl Becker and he made copies and fantasies of ancient coins in the 1820's.

 

Coincidently this is my 800th post so I shall post my newest counterfeit: A very scarce 1822 capped bust half dollar. I have also included a picture out of my Davignon book. The coin is Davignon 2-B, third one down on the page.