Counterfeit Detection: 1795 And 1796 Half Cents

Jack Young - My latest installment of this CoinWeek exclusive series is like a mystery novel.


Attribution is always my starting point for any subject example, but this one would be considered fairly obvious to many collectors of Half Cents. The listing was for a 1795 and a 1796 Half Cent as shown below.


Since both examples use the same obverse, I will show the "1796" Half Cent counterfeit compared to the only known genuine variety with pole. On this one, a low-grade example is worth thousands of dollars, so here is a real 'Bay bargain.


And the reverses:


While the two subject coins' reverses match each other.


So, here comes the first twist.

Searching for possible matches yielded a couple of interesting Gallery Mint "COPY" examples.

Their 1796:


But, the reverse doesn't match.

And then we found a GMM 1794 COPY:


And we have a winner!


So, we have a current counterfeit based on a GMM COPY-there seems to be no limit to what they will fake!

Can it get any worse, you may ask?

Just more rather expensive listings and other dates!


And a 1795 that was weathered to be more "genuine":


And the last "twist" for this episode.

This one was called a "Fantasy Token"; what is interesting (to me) is it uses the same obverse but shows the wrong reverse seen for these. No rocket scientists, these guys!

The reverse appears to be from their fake 1793 large cent:


Things are getting pretty dicey out there. Stay thirsty my friends!

Best as always,
Jack Young

Read More: Counterfeit Detection Series

Check out 1795 and 1796 Half Cents on ebay.