TPG Test?

And you could throw in a couple of counterfeit coins, too.

 

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It sounds like a show on the History Channel.

"Judged by Experts"

Every week 4 TPGs are asked to authenticate, attribute and grade selected coins in only 5 minutes. WHO WILL MAKE THE CUT and win $5000 and BRAGGING RIGHTS?

 

Fooled me ... I went searching on Google for "Judged by Experts" on History Channel, lol. But what I had described being in a format similar to the grading shootout conducted by CoinWeek back in 2017 -- you can watch that video at the following link: (312) CoinWeek IQ: World Coin Grading Shootout! - 4K Video - YouTube

 

I would certainly seek advice beyond CoinTalk before engaging in this activity. Knowingly submitting a counterfeit coin, without the grading company's knowledge of such circumstance, for the purpose of authentication sounds like there could possibly be some underlying legal issues that have not been considered.

 

It would be best to submit all the coins, one at a time, to each grading service in the following types of submissions:

- Single coin
- Multiple coins of same or similar type (Draped Bust cent is similar to Draped Bust half cent, Classic Head cent, Liberty Cap cent, but not Kennedy half or Mercury dime)
- Multiple coins of arbitrary types

Submitting multiple of these fakes in a single submission might set of alarm bells if more than one are detected as fakes. Having other coins in a submission might give information as to whether a grader is influenced by these other coins. The experiment would take a long time a considerable amount of money to run. In order to prevent or forestall being made, you might want to farm out submissions to accomplices and piggyback on orders that fit the experiment, although that would also take a while.

I'd bet that if you asked the TPGs about conducting this experiment, they'd all decline. There's little good that they could see coming out of having a fake slip by in the context of a publicized study. They'd probably welcome seeing the coins, but on their terms.

 

LOL! I just combined elements of Forged in Fire with elements of Assembly Required.

But it would make a fun show...

 

Really? How so?

 

I think he will be safe as long as he doesn't try to sell the coin as real or seek to collect from their insurance program.

His purpose is simply to test the services ability to do the job they are hired to do. It's no different than Consumers Reports. They test the products and give their opinion on whether they deliver.

 

He might try to spend it

 

I never even considered that. Right now I trust Jack more than any TPG by several orders of magnitude. He is a true Numismatist.

 

I have in the past notified the TPG's of the error and sent the holdered "coins" back to them to remove from the slab and take measurements and image the coin as additional data points for my research.

There is still a "shock" factor when a hobbyist is shown a counterfeit in a genuine slab and the attribution points are explained; education is probably the only weapon we have against these.

I appreciate @Marshall's comments; at some point I may donate my examples to the ANA if that can aid in education. And the comment of just "spending them" is quite silly...

 

Is there, by chance, a thread on CoinTalk where we can post photos of counterfeit coins we have found/bought/otherwise come into possession, for educational purposes? I have lots of such coins, lol. Perils of buying coins at online auctions on Proxibid, Hibid, Liveauctioneers, etc. If ANA collects them for educational purposes, I would gladly donate them to ANA for that purpose.

 

Simply searching "counterfeit" will probably keep you busy for a while. There have been numerous posts on this subject, though most concern individual coins or a broad discussion of the topic.

This should also lead you to the many threads based on prior studies by Jack as new counterfeits are detected and often involve locating the Mother Coin (Authentic Coin from which the counterfeit dies are made.)

 

One of the latest TPG certed counterfeits had a green CAC bean to top it off...

 

I think of it as more of a test to see which TPG does the best job at identifying real -vs- counterfeit. Its not about 'catching', 'gotchas' or anything negative. Instead, it may provide useful information about where to send our coins for the most reliable service.

Individuals and organizations buy meals, electronics, cars, etc for the purpose reviewing them and then share that info via blogs, magazine articles, and even word of mouth. Why not review TPGs?

m2c

 

It is easy to make the TPGers look silly, but really, the job is not simple and I doubt many would be better at spotting counterfiets. Even still... this is funny.

 

Necro comment

It used to be significant in law whether the act was done for profit.

If the purpose was to sell the coin to an unsuspecting buyer, it was illegal.

If it was reporting on the reliability of a product or service, it was considered reporting with "Freedom of the Press" protections. (not absolute, but with very high tolerance)

But I grew up in a different era when we respected our Founders and the honored their aspirations about the dignity of men, if not their vices.

 

And please, share us the results! I love checking the grading companies!

 

If you mean it's funny that CAC didn't spot the counterfeit, you have to remember that CAC doesn't do authentication. They are strictly rendering a judgement on the grade assigned by the TPG.

 

If I pay another service to look at my already certified coins, I’d expect them to spot counterfeits. It’s US coins only… there aren’t too many different types.