I saw a coin yesterday that was a really solid counterfeit. The only way I could tell that the coin was counterfeit was the color. Of course, the owner of the coin already told me it was fake so I was sort of cheating. He sent it in to be graded and it came back body bagged. Does anyone have any experience with dectecting a fake indian quarter eagle and indian half eagle?
Well looking at my PCGS Grading and Counterfeit guide: They say all dates are known to be faked... There is a whole 2-3 pages on this so I can't type it all....I would suggest this book....this is the First Edition...I think they sell it on Ebay for about $20... Official Guide To Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection Speedy
IIRC, they list this as about the only series where one could make a successful effort to put together a complete date and mintmark set using only counterfeit coins. Caveat emptor!
I wouldn't how much a fake set would cost??...that might be something I could work on this year Speedy
With most dates there are a few known diagnostics that identify the counterfeits. I'll provide a couple of examples. 1915 quarter eagle obverse - Feathers are slightly weak and some small pimples can be seen in the feathers. There is a small pimple directly under the shorter stand of hair that crosses the neck line - this mark is a dead away the coin is counterfeit. The stars on the right are formed by inclined rather than vertical planes giving them a blurred appearance. The rim is very rounded over where it connects with the edge. reverse - The relief is bold but the feathers are weak and indistinct. The legends have indistincrt outlines and it is placed too close to the edge of the coin. The surface of the coin is slightly undulated instead of being flat and there are sporadic small pimples in the fields. Next to the P in PLURIBUS there are two small pimples between the P and the rim and one larger pimple directly under the leg of the P. This is a giveaway. For absolute confirmation, there will be 118 reeds on the edge of the counterfeit instead of the 110 found on genuine coins. 1909-D, 1914-D and the 1915-D half eagles - All of these coins have a dead give away on the reverse. Centered on the eagle's right wing there is raised ridge which connects the eagle's breast and the wing. There should be no raised ridge here at all.
