This thread is related to Hobo's excellent thread on the Counterfeit coin experiment with FUN dealers. My question. Let's assume a dealer gets it wrong and discovers that he/she has mistakenly purchased a $1000 counterfeit coin. Is that dealer just going to chalk it up as a bad purchase and destroy it? Will he/she display it as a counterfeit? or.... Will he/she resell it knowing it is a counterfeit? Remember, we are only talking about one example and "only" $1000. What if it happens again or for a coin worth more money, etc. I would venture that the majority of coin collectors "trust" the opinion of their "favorite" coin dealer. Dealers sell cleaned and dipped coins all day long to unsuspecting buyers. I know there is no answer to this. It's just something to muse over.
Such questions are posed in a regular column in The Numismatist every month. Both sides are presented with reasoning. Then the official ANA opinion is expressed. It makes for very intersting reading. Bottom line is that the only recourse a dealer has is with whomever sold him the coin. Otherwise he has to eat the loss - according to ANA ethics.
I can't speak for all dealers... this is what I do with counterfeits... I have what I call the bag-o-fakes. These are counterfeits and reproduction pieces that I make available for my customers to look at and learn from. I have acquired these in a few different ways... When I was younger I purchased a few counterfeits as real pieces. As i gained more experience I was able to pick up some of these at shows and just off the street for the price of a counterfeit. This is about a 10 year or so collection. There are the good, the bad, and the ugly in this collection... but every piece here is counterfeit.
An interesting question for sure. Years ago I bought a fake 1914-D Lincoln from my current boss. Yes, he told me it was fake. I held it for a while before selling on ebay as an "educational tool". Now based on emails with the buyer I believe it was purchased just for that. An educational tool. However, I would never do it again. That coin could have easily been won by a person with the sole intent of selling it as genuine. Collectors and dealers have to watch out for one another. I can relate another story of being at another dealer and my current boss calling him to warn about some counterfeit Krugerands in the area. Seems a person had come into his shop and the weight was off. Now if a key date comes in my boss makes an offer but it is not a full offer as it were. He tells the seller he will pay x amount after the coin has been slabbed. If it's not legit he'll eat the slabbing fee. If it is he'll pay better money. Personally any Trade dollar that walks in the door I weigh immediately. As for what a dealer should do if they buy a fake coin. Well, hopefully they could get the money back from the person that sold it to them. If not eat the loss I'm afraid.
That's the problem in a nutshell, similar to the reprints in sports cards. It seems that the coin should be marked in some way in the same manner that "copy" is stamped on some coins, but that sort of ruins it as a counterfeit collectible. I have no answer to this except that we have to rely on individual integrity, and there is a good chance that won't work.
Matt, Quite an impressive stash! Have you photographed each one? I think it would make a tremendous addition to your webpage as an educational aspect! An important issue in numismatics that will continue to grow. Jim
That would be a valuable educational web page. The more fakes that collectors are able to look at and study the better. LostDutchman, if it's possible for you to do, it would be much appreciated!
Oddly enough fake coin collecting is becoming a new hobby. At some coin shows I've seen really great counterfeit coins selling for the same or even more than the real thing. If done really great and noted as a couterfeit, they are selling and for surprizing amount of money. I've met people at shows that go there for just those fakes. Like error collectors, counterfeit collectors are increasing.
