I Acquired a Very Famous Counterfeit

In the mid-1960s, NY City native Victor Piacentile (a.k.a. Victor Pease) approached William Sheiner, the owner of Bronx Coins, to help him market a double struck, rotated in collar 1964 Lincoln cent. Interestingly, it was only double struck on the obverse side - very much unlike this error type and which immediately drew suspicion from collectors. Even more fantastic is that several more were claimed to have been discovered in sealed Mint bags. And they were all struck the same proportion of rotation (about 40 degrees counter clockwise)!

As if this isn't ridiculous enough, the pair even staged a public demonstration at a NY hotel where they opened "sealed" Mint bags and "found" a few more identical errors!

Where it really got problematic for them was that they advertised in The New York Times and other publications that were mailed to various dealers and collectors. Over 100 were sold, with several sent through the mail. Of course, committing a crime (altering coins with a fake obverse die to scam buyers) and then using the mail is a federal olfense, and each time it is done is another charge; it also involves conspiracy to commit a crime.

After being tipped off to the U.S. Secret Service, the two wound up charged with various federal crimes and each got sentemced to 3 months in prison and 2 years probabtion.

Featured here is one of those infamous cents they were charged with altering, which I acquired just yesterday. Though many detest altered and counterfeit coins, it can't be ignored that it did become a part of numismatic history. Although not as widely known as the Henning Nickel (which was counterfeit and wasn't made to scam collectors), the Piacentile/Sheiner cent is similar in that there was a key diagnostic blunder.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Nice buy! I’d put that coin in my collection for sure.
Reed and Sparkles the Unicorn

 

Cool (fake) error. Lincoln schizophrenic. Just like Reed & Sparkles

 

What is Reed and Sparkles the Unicorn?

 

As for the similar diagnostic blunder to the Henning Nickel, while Piacentile's 1964 cent mistakenly lacked a roatated in collar double strike, Henning forgot to place a mintmark above Monticello's dome. Because Henning produced a 1944 nickel, that year was exclusively a 35% silver planchet. So, the Mint moved the mintmark and made it much larger so these nickels could be easily identified and withdrawn from circulation after the war.

Thus Piacentile's lack of a reverse double strike (plus having so many with the same degree of collar rotation), and Henning's lack of a mintmark, is what ultimately drew suspicion from astute collectors and landed them (and William Sheiner along with Piacentile) in the tank.

 

Wow, Bill Sheiner, that brings back many childhood memories. Bill owned a coin and musical instrument shop on 174th street and Southern Boulevard in The Bronx NY. All of the kids in my neighborhood would go to his shop to look at the coins he had on display. Good memories.

BTW" for you Jazz fans, Bill tutored Jazz legend Stan Getz in saxophone before he became famous, so I'm told.

 

Thanks for posting this. I missed this incident when I was young collector in the 1960s.

In addition to his famous 1944 nickel, Henning made other dates as well. He also made 1939, 1946, 1947 and 1953 nickels as well. The other counterfeits are harder to spot because they were not missing the big mint mark over the dome.

 

Makes you wonder what other counterfeits are out there, maybe there is counterfeit clad dimes and quarters.

 

That would be a great counterfeit coin to add to any collection. The only famous counterfeit coin I own is one of the original good plated V Nickels.

 

What is the key diagnostic blunder?

 

I got in trouble some months back for dropping to many unicorns on a guy who was a troll. Now Sparkles just stays with me no more bombing for him.

 

There are some modern counterfeit dimes and quarters, but ones I have seen were not on clad planchets. That process is just too expensive and technical for a counterfeiter to attempt.

The word was Henning didn't make that much from his nickels. Supposedly he had some beef with the government, but perhaps others know more of the story.

 

I think he started with nickels as a test run. I believe he eventually was going to fake larger denominations made with silver, but used nickel instead. He was close with the weight of his nickels and could have gotten the weight right for larger ones eventually. Thus not using 90% silver as denominations get bigger would increase profit potential

 

Read my second post

 

What are you talking about?

 

Gracias! My eyes must have crossed reading about the Henning Nickel!

 

Never mind just old business that has nothing to do with your post, sorry
Reed and Sparkles

 

That has got to be a pretty cool feeling to own a coin with a scandalous yet fun history like that.

 

Being a History teacher, I love that I found ine especially

 

WOW thanks for this History Lesson. I never knew this one happened. I happen to love errors and famous counterfeiters like this. I call it a "lesson learned" when they are busted. Thank you so much for sharing this JCro57. I'd be duped too, and spent a larger sum on this coin, if I had not read this story. As it is I'd still like to own it but now as a conversation piece, not as an Error.