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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 2741553, member: 24314&quot;]NEWS FLASH...I agree w/the poster.&nbsp; IMHO, lots of counterfeit Chinese coins have been slabbed as authentic by the TPGS.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reason is simple.&nbsp; In the 1960&#039;s and 1970&#039;s collecting coins from China was one of the &quot;backwaters&quot; of U.S. numismatics.&nbsp; Although the genuine pieces have many varieties and styles from different mints, back then, the counterfeits were very crude.&nbsp; Any numismatists who studied the genuine pieces using a microscope back then would know what a genuine coin should look like.&nbsp; It&#039;s a good bet that NO ONE DID!</p><p><br /></p><p>As decades passed, the methods of counterfeiting improved.&nbsp; Unfortunately, it&#039;s a good bet that no one did extensive microscopic study of Chinese coins then either.&nbsp; The usual reference was a book by Kann.&nbsp; It is a great resource.&nbsp; Unfortunately, AFAIK hardly anyone studied the varieties closely using magnification.&nbsp; There were dealers.&nbsp; Some were pretty good but they did not use microscopes and relied mostly on their eyes or occasionally a hand lens. Many of the good ones around in the 70&#039;s are dead. </p><p><br /></p><p>Things were different in China.&nbsp; Collectors over there were familiar with the coins of their nation.&nbsp; Astute numismatists can weed out most fakes as quick as we search a roll of Morgan&#039;s because they grew up with Chinese numismatics.&nbsp; Nevertheless, counterfeiting methods continued to improve.&nbsp; Along came the two major grading services.&nbsp; Chinese coins were still not &quot;big&quot; in the 80&#039;s but eventually they started to &quot;take off.&quot;&nbsp; IMHO, most of the time, the TPGS guys eyeballed a typical Chinese coin and rendered an opinion without due study.&nbsp; No one studied the coins locked away in museums from the 1960&#039;s and earlier.&nbsp; They did not know what the genuine coin should look like.&nbsp; By then, the counterfeits were pretty good.&nbsp; The real counterfeits.&nbsp; The crude junk posted in forums, sold on Ebay, etc. was not a problem.&nbsp; The well-made fakes were. </p><p><br /></p><p>So...As I wrote, plenty of well-made fakes got into the market, were bought, sold, and collected raw; and even got slabbed.&nbsp; Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible for us in the U.S. to go back and learn.&nbsp; The marketplace has become too polluted.&nbsp; Folks think someone who condemns a slabbed coin from a TPGS is a NUT!&nbsp; It&#039;s best to: <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie66" alt=":muted:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Bottom line, there are some Chinese coins that are so genuine your blind grandmother would know they are authentic.&nbsp; Unfortunately, there are many others that appear genuine due to the quality of the counterfeits. Additionally a large number of Chinese coins - both good and fake - look terrible under a microscope.&nbsp; I don&#039;t trust any opinion about these coins from just about anyone.&nbsp; I do know graders at NGC have been to China and the Mint.&nbsp; They also have consultants in China.&nbsp; I should respect their opinion much of the time.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m not going to rock the boat any more with addition posts on this subject after this single post so we can all continue to trust auction companies and TPGS&#039;s. You are free to believe what you wish about <b><span style="color: #ff0000">my opinion</span></b>. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie66" alt=":muted:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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