Nickel counterfit

There is a coin listed on eBay that states.

1944 nickel with no mint mark over the dome. The Red Book lists these as counterfit. Anyone know about this?

 

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Henning Nickel.

 

yup, as stated, Henning fake.

Very collectible.

 

It is not necessarily a Henning. I have one that isn't so it has to be attributed properly to confirm it's a Henning or it isn't worth as much.

http://www.numismaticenquirer.com/TNE/Henning%20Counterfeit%20Nickel.html

Ribbit

 

I took a look it doesn't seem to have the looped R of a Henning someone else care to look. Ice

http://cgi.ebay.com/1944-no-mint-mark-nickel_W0QQitemZ380113868173QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCoins_US_Individual?hash=item380113868173&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50#ebayphotohosting

 

Looks real to me. Could this just be a filled die or maybe the mint mark was removed?

 

It has the "look" of a Henning to me, but no way to be sure from those pics.

You could request better pics.

 

He makes some nice cremation urns ..thats for sure.

 

What I don't understand is the varying legality of coins like this. How is it that this nickel and the 1913 V nickel are considered legal to possess, whereas 1964 Peace dollar and 1974 aluminum cent are illegal to possess?

What further confuses me is that the 1944 nickel with no mint mark is a known counterfeit and the secret service doesn't seem to mind them circulating; as opposed to the 1974 cent which was minted by the US Mint. Where do they draw the line?

Cheers!

 

Like the 1933 Double Eagle the 1964 Peace Dollar and the 1974 Aluminum Cent were produced by the Mint but not released. Since they were not released they are illegal to own. (An exception is the single '33 Double Eagle that has been "legalized".) In other words, the only way someone could possess one of these coins is if it was obtained illegally.

The 1944 Henning Nickel was not produced by the mint. Plus it pre-dates the HPA.

So why is it legal to own a 1913 Liberty Nickel? They were produced in the Mint from genuine dies (unofficially). Why are they not illegal to own like the 1933 Double Eagle or the 1964 Peace Dollar or the 1974 Aluminum Cent? I've never heard a good reason for that.

 

Conjecture is that the US mint used Hennings blanks for nickel production in the early 1950's - that being how good his counterfeits were.

 

Yeah, but kindof on the high $$ as well....

Speedy

 

It's not the secret service that hunts down illigal coins you know. They are SUPPOSED to be doing things a little more important. And to a coin being illigal, that too is rather a tuff call. So just how many law inforcement people are out there hunting down fake Nickels? They too apparently think murders, robberies, home invasions, etc are a little more important.
There was a post about a 1974 Lincoln Cent of Aluminum being slabbed and authenticated by some TPGS somewhere not long ago. I still have that article. I wonder if the Mint Police saw that?????

 

With all due respect to those who might differ, it is my opinion/understanding that while the defective (not looped, but nicked) R is an indicator that a nickel is a Henning, many Henning counterfeits do not have this die defect. Henning used a number of obverse and reverse dies. The ones without the characteristic R but are dated 1944 without the P can still be attributed as Hennings, and other dates with the defective R can also be identidfied. Non-1944 ones without the defective R will almost certainly never be identified as fake, especially when well worn.

 

Hennings can and have been seized as counterfeits before, not likely but possible.

 

As far as the ebay example, the point is now moot as ebay has removed the listing. Apparently someone reported it as a counterfeit, even though the lister stated as much. Too bad, I had a bid on it.

 

It is in fact the secret service whose primary job is finding and removing from circulation counterfeit money. I'm sure you are referencing the secret service as elite guards for the president, but this job only falls to a small select of the secret service; the best of the best kind of thing. Cheers!

 

My understanding of the law is it's not illegal to possess a counterfeit coin/note...but illegal to pass one on. So, if you knowingly spent a Henning Nickel it would be technically illegal but I don't think owning one is.

Not that I care anyway, I really want a Henning Nickel.

 

I do not think you would be arrested for simply possessing one, it is still subject to confiscation.

Fakes have been collected for centuries, though.

 

Carl,

That is not necessarily true! At times, the Secret Service does confiscate coins. Read the information about the 1969-S "Doubled Die" Lincoln Cents at the link below.

http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/1969S1cDDFound.htm


Frank