How to make a fake coin?

Maybe its just me, but that fake coin posted didnt look like he had made the die and "repressed" the 3 back on. I would think that he carefully chiseled away at another common Morgan featuring 3 in it, and then attempted to re-solder it. It may not be possible, but that was my impression.

Pics of the Chinese fake factories can be found all over the Internet; here's an old CCF thread with several of them.

The quality of fakes manufactured ranges from the laughably incompetent (I love the coins from Maxxico!) to the undetectable-with-current-technology, depending on the skill of the forgers and the target market. Poor fakes are made of whatever happens to be ling around cheap - steel, pewter, lead-brass (which can have a deceptively silvery appearance) or whatever. Good fakes might be made of silver, but the silver ones aren't the ones being smuggled into the country by the containerload.

Copying dies usually requires one genuine coin to be the master, from which the dies are replicated. Making dies this way loses detail, so either the resultant coins appear "mushy" and weakly struck, or the dies are re-engraved before use. Re-engraving skills also vary from shoddy to excellent.


The Chinese folks in the old thread might be crooks (it wouldn't surprise me if organized criminal gangs were behind it all) but not necessarily; it's perfectly legal in China to make fake foreign coins. The crime doesn't happen until they're imported.

fake coins were made many different ways, for as many different purposes, the old fakes were made to be spent as money, and to this day some can still be found in dealer inventories as genuine coins. the modern fakes were made primarily to fool collectors, and stick out like a sore thumb to anyone familiar with the genuine ones.

I would be certain that a few of the best fakes have fooled the TPG's.

Because of this they have to be especially vigilant, because their reputation is at stake.

Of one thing I am also certain: If a fake has fooled a TPG, it will fool most of us, too!

A bit like Pandora's Box. There is still some hope remaining. There are one or two really good specialists here in the CCF who would still express their doubts with such an excellent fake.

I am not one of them unfortunately, I am a gereralist. That is one reason why I can be found here in the CCF. Even so I am not afraid of expressing my views, when I suspect a fake, even if I am subsequently proven wrong. If that happens, I am more than happy to accept that.

with the CNC and other machines that is out there today all it takes is a scan and a program to make a reverse die to strike coins. No real artistry to it like it used to be back when it was done for intrinsic value instead of numismatic value

It's a good argument for collectors to learn about die varieties, because those subtle details will be hard to replicate, several steps removed from a die. A die made from the sharpest MS coin cannot be as sharp as the original coin. Naturally, this means collectors will need to carefully study coins before bidding--which is not always easy on the 'Bay.