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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Hobo, post: 402675, member: 11521&quot;]It sure looks like gold to me.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A favorite tactic of counterfeiters used to be to use less gold than specified for the coin. That way they could make a profit on the coin&#039;s gold content.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Now counterfeiters know they can make more money by selling a fake coin with a high numismatic value to a collector than by selling a fake coin that is short a little gold. The counterfeiters also know that some - perhaps many, but certainly not all - collectors will weigh the coin to make sure it is within Mint specs. They also know that some collectors will even check the specific gravity of the coins. The smart counterfeiters understand that valuable coins receive closer scrutiny than common coins and they will be unable to pass off their wares if their fake coins do not meet the most basic Mint standards for weight and specific gravity.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So the counterfeiters make sure their fakes of valuable gold coins exactly meet Mint specs. One way they do this is to use coins produced by the US Mint. For example, the counterfeiter will melt down a common Double Eagle that has little value above melt and use that gold for his planchets. The gold will be the exact alloy as that used by the US Mint. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The counterfeiter also knows that he can make a LOT more profit from eight fake Quarter Eagles or four fake Half Eagles (or some combination) than he can from a single fake Double Eagle with that gold from the donor Double Eagle. If the counterfeiter is smart he will produce a mix of denominations and dates because it would look suspicious to sell several identical rare coins at one time. This requires more work on the part of the counterfeiter in the form of multiple dies and planchet sizes but it will increase his chance of success when selling multiple coins to a single buyer.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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