Counterfeit Gold?

I just want to make sure that you and other readers understand something. The diagnostics that Matt used and pointed out for this specific coin may or may not be on other fake coins. Other fakes may have similar, but completely different marks in completely different locations, or they may not have any marks like that at all.

What Matt is talking about here is that a genuine coin was used to make the dies that struck this fake, so any mark that was on the genuine coin is going to be on the fake as well. So known genuine diagnostics are often not sufficient for correct identification.

There are several different ways to fake coins. Electrotypes and transfer dies are just two of them and they (as well as some others) are briefly explained in the following -

http://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=78

http://www.pcgs.com/News/The-Fundamentals-Of-Counterfeit-Detection--Part-1

But there is another way that fakes can be produced, the dies can be carved by hand. And while this requires an artist of considerable skill there are those who can do it. And with today's technology computers, lasers, even printers, can come into play and make counterfeits that can pass detection by most, and conceptually all.

There are many books out there, some old and some new, that have pretty good pictures and list the known diagnostics for some fakes. Any serious collector of gold would be well advised to have and study all of these books. A simple Google search will bring up most if not all of them.

 

The point I was trying to make mic is that you, or anybody else on this forum, will probably never see another example of this particular fake again. And that sometimes the tool marks and such that Matt pointed out can even be diagnostics for identifying genuine coins in this specific series, and/or any other series.

To know one from the other you have to know your coins. I merely used your comment as an illustration.

 

Not really. Most books only cover the subject in general, for all coins, not for any specific series or type. Counterfeit Gold Coins by Alfred Dieffenbacher covers just gold coins, but it covers counterfeits for many countries not just the US.

The PCGS grading book has some stuff in it, so does the Fivaz book. And some of the books written about specific series or types also often have a chapter or a few pages on how to detect fakes. But just like with almost any subject having to do with numismatics there is no single book that you can read and study and know the subject. You have to read and study entire libraries of books to do that. And top it off with articles written on the subject.

Let me put it this way, if you get various degrees for numismatics, counterfeit detection would be a separate degree all by itself.