I Acquired a Counterfeit Certified by NGC

Wow, that is a ridiculously good fake. Sure would have fooled me!

Thanks @Jack D. Young and friends for all the work you are doing to search these out and tell us about them!

 

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Thank you!

Image of the "group":

 

WOW Looking forward to this book, need all the help with Mint error coins

 

And another.

 

Joe, please give me an email address or a website for your pre-orders. I want a copy of your book. John --

[Email address redacted per forum rules. Please use the private messaging system. ~Mod.]

 

Back when I was at ANACS I made the decision to certify as genuine a 1796 quarter with a "scratch" in the right field. Basically Good-4 condition. Had my doubts about it but one of the things that pushed me over the edge was the condition. "Why would anybody counterfeit anything in this low a grade with a scratch?" I never said to myself "Self, because it is a $1000 coin, you big dummy!"

About a year later I was at an ANA convention when Lee Minshull came up to me with that coin and our photo certificate and a second, identical coin. I said to myself "Self, OOPS!" After the convention we did what was right. Out of curiosity, I went to the ANA Library and started looking through back auction catalogues of all the major auction houses and found several matching pieces sold over many years. I felt better knowing I was not the only one who was fooled.

We published our error to warn people about the coin. Got in a couple more (that we had not certified) from people who had seen the article. Then we got in a coin along with a letter that said basically "I bought this coin from Dealer X a few years ago, and he contacted me and said that he saw your article and there might be a problem with it. He offered to pay for certification and said he would refund my money if it was a counterfeit." Very decent of the dealer. I wish I could remember his name.

Well, damned if it wasn't the host coin. The "scratch" in the right field was a lamination on the coin. If you tilted the coin you could see under the metal. I sent it to a consultant for a second opinion, and he agreed it was the genuine host coin. We certified it, and I returned it with a very detailed letter on ANA letterhead explaining why this particular coin was genuine and not the counterfeit discussed on page such and such of The Numismatist. I cc'd the letter to the dealer. Never heard anything more about it.

TD

 

Tom, that is an absolutely fascinating story. Thank you so much for sharing it.

 

As soon as it is ready, I will for sure

 

This hobby has it's ups and downs and everything in between. If the TPGs can't catch the fakes that are sent to them where does that leave us? It's bad enough to have to worry about fake raw coins, fake coins in fake TPG slabs but to have to worry about having a fake coin in an authentic TPG slab is just plan wrong! TPGs should be our insurance of sort. And it seems now like there are some people who know they are buying fakes and actually want them! I mean WHY? Yea educational purpose and conversation piece but to look for and want a collection or set of known fakes just does not make sense to me. It's been said if you want to but something that's authentic buy certified or have it certified. Well that almost seems like it's out the window. This is just my view on it and everybody has his own views and wants but it's just frustrating and confusing.

 

That is why we have numismatists to catch these well done counterfiets. A community that is held hostage by one entity is doomed to fail. The community strives when we bring in folks that do their passion, create checks and balances. Some of us have eyes for Variety's, some for grading, some for errors. The specialists I am talking about though are the ones who study one date and MM combo or a series, they are the true experts, and who I put my trust in. Not the TPG's.
We should be thankful for these folks that devote their time to the true art of numismatics. If it weren't for @Jack D. Young and his fellow's you wouldn't be the wiser.

 

Another ditto

 

@Jack D. Young I'm looking forward to the release of your book. Sounds like it'll be a must have for the serious collector.

Best of luck...

 

And that is exactly why I come here. There are other websites and blogs I visit to get some information like mintages numbers, sale dates and so forth. But to actually gain more knowledge and to continue growing as a hobbyist and a collector, this site will give me the confidence to someday be able to actually see myself as a numismatist and to pass on to my Kids and Grandkids what I have and learned.

 

Do you remember the date when this was going on CaptHenway? Also did you save images?

 

Any images would have been ANACS property when I left there in 1984. Records from that era are mostly lost. They have the photographic negatives filed in the basement in numerical order, but you can no longer find the coin number!

You might be able to find the writeup of the piece in the ANACS column in the online Numismatists. Start in 1982 and work forwards until when I left in 1984.

 

Found this researching a counterfeit 1799 $ @CaptHenway in a collection of ANA Counterfeit Detection articles- is this the '96 25c?

 

As I recall, this was one of the first fake half cent varieties that led to Jack's and EAC's involvement in rooting out counterfeits.

It's also overgraded by at least 20 points, though that's a minor issue in addition to the fact that it's fake.

 

Where can we purchase it?

 

It will be released in January 2021.
Private message Joe and he will give you the information.

Or he can respond when I tag him now @JCro57

 

Yep, that is the 1796.