Is This 1809 Half Cent Legit?

I was afraid that there might be some variation. grrr

 

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The 0 in the date and "L" in Liberty as you pointed out are the biggest tell-tell signs. Coupled with the "wear" on the back Half Cent lettering, lack of even wear on the front with gunk, I would have to agree with the others.

Something you can do with the auction house: Would this coin still be legal tender?
If so, they sold counterfeit legal tender! Point this out and threatening to get the Secret Service involved should solve the problem and make you "just go away".

 

Don't feel too bad-- I didn't know myself until I compared the original poster's coin with my 1809 and then checked out the 1809 varieties in the Breen catalogue and the web site I cited.

 

Hey, I learned something from you today. I can't feel too bad!

 

Thanks. You just made my day

 

If the auction house won't take it back and you paid with a CC, you'd be protected by your credit card company and can file a case with them. If the auction house refuses the return I'd also file a complaint with the BBB.

 

your half cent has too many problems in general for me to consider it authentic. i took some pictures of my worn out one for comparison.

 

Also I can see that the "E" in Cents is a little fat and filled compared to other examples. Just glad I didn't spend a fortune on it.

 

Here is a photo depicting a bunch of Indian & large cents in China. They are freshly made and they have received "circulation processing".

 

Ugh

 

Fake without a doubt. There are six varieties for 1809, only one of them has the leaf point below the final S in STATES anywhere close to being under the center of it and that is C-1 an R-6 variety. On C-1 it is right of center. Everything else has it below the right edge or even further right. NONE of the varieties have the leaf point below the F in OF further left than the right foot of the F. It is interesting that gbroke compared it to his 1834. Most all of the Chinese fake half cents use this same reverse. It is the reverse first used on 1835 C-2. The only difference between it and the 1834 C-1 reverse is the spacing of the ST in STATES.

 

Oh man. This is really terrible for those of us who prefer raw coins. I've been seeing even low-grade common-date faked half cents up on the 'bay. There's practically nothing left they're not faking, and getting better and better at. And as they spread out more and more, you can't just look for the bad sellers and judge that way -- good folks legitimately duped are reselling their fakes without even knowing it. It's the same problem now with all the AT silver out there.

I find a lot of early date half cent fakes have reverse features from later dates, etc, but you really need to know the series (and even specific years for EAC) to detect fakes. It's a shame.

 

My bad , I'll post a 1/2 cent . But still the lettering on the rerverse is off as is the date . The grainy surface all add up to fake .

 

Thanks for posting your 1/2 cent now I don't have to post another one , I concur we all have been burned , whether a fake or a cleaneed coin .

 

It is without a doubt a fake. I refer you to the size of the stars and the gap between them. I checked all 4/5 obverses and they all have large stars and less than a stars width between the stars (not really close) and this coin has small stars and more than a stars width between them.

http://www.coinfacts.com/half_cents/1809_half_cent_varieties/1809_half_cent_c01.htm

Follow this link to see the difference. Click next variety to check out all six Cohen varieties. I use this site for any coin for which I do not have better images. Since it is a closed site, you have to click the close on the notification window to see the images. But it is a wonderful source of images for both the beginner and the old timer.

 

Spot on. Aside from it just looking "wrong," the stars and gaps were also what I was examining.