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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Hobo, post: 361898, member: 11521&quot;]It&#039;s not really a theory. It is fact. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Let&#039;s say that a counterfeiter wants to make counterfeit 1909-D $5 coins. He might buy a very nice genuine MS-63 example of this coin and use it as his &quot;host&quot; coin. The host coin is not perfect and has several bag marks. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The next thing the counterfeiter may do is buy several common date, low grade Double Eagles and melt them. Each Double Eagle will give him enough gold for 4 $5 gold coins - in the exact alloy used by the Mint. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Next he will need dies to strike his counterfeit coins. There are various ways of doing this but the counterfeiter will make &quot;transfer dies&quot; that are exact mirror images of the host coin&#039;s obverse and reverse. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Every defect on the host coin (e.g., bag marks, which are scratched - depressed - into the coin&#039;s surface) will be copied on the transfer dies.&nbsp; So every coin made from these dies will have the identical depressions where the bag marks and scratches were located on the host coin. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If the host coin had a scratch in the field it will appear on the transfer die as a raised area above the field. When the counterfeiter stikes a coin with his transfer dies that raised area creates a depression below the field on the struck coin identical to the scratch on the host coin EXCEPT that on the counterfeit coin the depression will have smooth edges and have luster (because it was struck) whereas the scratch on the host coin will have sharp edges and no luster (because it is a scratch). </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Bag marks and scratches are random and theoretically no two coins should have the same bag marks and scratches. So when you find a struck counterfeit coin with depressions made by the dies you know that the depressions will be repeated on other coins struck by the same dies. That is why they are called &quot;repeating depressions&quot;. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>These repeating depressions are used as markers to identify counterfeit coins. That does not mean that every counterfeit 1909-D $5 will have the same repeating depressions found on the above counterfeiter&#039;s coins. If he or another counterfeiter made another set of dies from another host coin coins made from those dies would have an entirely different set of repeating depressions. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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