Why are some counterfeit coins collectible?

Remember, Henning made some 400,000 nickels before he was found out and he likely would have made many more if he hadn't screwed up. In 1954 when he made them, $20,000 wasn't small change (of course it's thought that after the costs of the dies, press and materials, he probably didn't even break even) . Today, if the counterfeits are as well made as you say, it might not beyond thinking that some million could be made, or have been made. What was the date on the Jefferson? Something we should be on the lookout for? Few people really look closely enough at their change to see differences.

 

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If I read you right, if a counterfeit is made during the time the coin is still in general circulation, then collecting it is alright. If the counterfeit is of a no longer circulating coin then it's frowned upon. Surely it can't be that simple. That's saying that the 1923-S and 1930-S Dimes made in the 1930's are collectible counterfeits, but if the makers of those coins kept the dies and made the same two coins today they wouldn't be collectible. Or that a Liberty Nickel known to have been plated by Tatum is collectible but a Liberty nickel plated today is not. Are the large numbers of counterfeit 3-cent silvers made during the 1850's and 1860's collectible? What is the status of modern fake 0ne-pound British coins, and the many Euro coin copies. And how about the (fairly) recently made copies of the 1934 (and 1932) Quarters first seen at the Long Beach show in 1985?

I'm not trying to be argumentative but it seems that the counterfeit market has standards beyond when the copy was made. Die-stamped is ok, casting is not. A 1923-S Dime is a counterfeit; a 1916 Morgan is not. Many thousands of a counterfeit make it collectible, only a few score made don't. U.S. made is more acceptable than Chinese made, but some foreign made - Russian, French - is accepted. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

You almost read me right, and it almost is that simple. If a counterfeit is made while the coin is in circulation so that it could circulate beside it, it tends to be considered collectible. It's not an official rule, or anything, rather it's just the way it is about people collecting these. I think another thing to consider is the "time heals all wounds" rule. This probably makes the modern counterfeit pounds and Sacagawea coins non-collectible. Of course, they also aren't rare.

 

It was a 1950 Jefferson nickel. I did some searching and found the photos. She let me photograph it. I can post them if you would like to see a really sharp counterfeit?

 

Not yet... I wanted to buy a stabbed one, just to be sure it's not a fake ;-)

 

Oh, you want to be sure that it is a real fake and not a fake fake?

 

I had 3 counterfeit walking Liberty haves that got from bank rolls in the '60's. They were all cast base metal with poor detail. Also, all had depression dates. A half was good wages for a day, or in some places, a week. Wish I still had them.