For about the past two weeks an older man has been coming into the shop to sell his coin collection. He is sick and his children have no interest in coins so he is disposing of his collection before he dies. That is itself very sad.
It is a very large collection and represents several decades of collecting - at least 50 years about the length of time I have been collecting. It also represents a great deal of money on his part. I am not talking just a few thousand dollars.
But because I am involved with the dark side of the business I see what can go wrong when people get taken by phony dealers and scam artists.
I only work part time but this collection is increasing my work load. So far at least 20% have been FAKES, altered or just plain rip-offs. What are real are common average things that he paid far too much for. Even with the increases in silver and gold prices he will be lucky if he breaks even.
Most of the fakes take literally 5-10 seconds to decide about and a minute or two to explain if they ask. Just the group I did over the weekend included 17 bad US Dollars and a total of 32 counterfeits all together.
The dollars were easiest.
1795 VF Bad Chinese
1796 F+ Bad Chinese
1799 EF Nice US made older
1846 VF Nice US made older
1872 AU Bad Chinese
1873 VF Bad Chinese
1875 S AU Bad Chinese
1877 AU Bad Chinese
1879 CC AU Bad Chinese
1884 S MS Soldered S recent
1887 O AU Well made struck older
1888 O AU Well made struck older
1888 CC AU Bad Chinese
1896 AU Bad Chinese
1896 O AU Well made struck older
1898 O AU Well made struck older
1928 VF - erased mint mark.
One of the best was the MS63 1884 S Morgan. Grade was accurate. But the mint mark was soldered on. Only fair job. But only worth silver now. Not $25,000 retail as he hoped. More like $30 as a curio.
The dollars include some fairly well done older fakes of a type I had not seen in many years. They were made in the late 1950s or 1960s and were still a problem when I was studying forgery in the early 1970s. They are NOT cast but are struck from transfer engraved dies. They are not struck in a collar and the reeds are milled.
There were 4 half dollar counterfeits. An 1861 S very high grade but a repaired previously holed coin. An 1854 O half in about AU die struck in silver with transfer dies like the dollars. In addition an 1898 S barber in brass and 1911 white metal strike both made for circulation.
Nice MS 63 level 1909 S VDB which I offered $10 for. The mint mark was stamped into the surface using the tunnel from the edge method. Not seen much these days.
Really nice Alexander the Great drachma struck from hand made dies but brass.
Super Lebanese Gold 400 Livres Olympic proof. Only it is a replica in 70% gold. Almost $400 melt but less than he paid.
A great looking 1794 Spade Guinea from Great Britain - well made struck correct edge by 50% gold (weight is correct however). Might bring $250 melt. I hope to buy it as a contemporary counterfeit for $300.
Some really "nice" cobs - several different wrecks in all denominations from 1/2 to 8. Worth on average $10 each melt.
One wreck coin was real - really low grade double ducatoon from one of the Netherlands wrecks that thirty years ago cost more than three times what they now cost.
One of the BEST fake struck silver Chinese junk Dollar forgeries I have ever seen. Everything about it was right except for the reeds. Not done with a ring die.
The last coin that I found to be very interesting was an 1892 Columbian Half Dollar fake made to circulate. That was a nice contemporary forgery worth more than an original but unfortunately of questionable legality. The one and only coin of this group that could bring more than he paid - about a $3 profit.
The foreign silver and gold coins are all heading to the melt bin (unless I salvage some of them.) The real ones are all common or there is no market for them. I will buy what I can afford to salvage.
But he also bought colorized coins proof sets by the carload (1970s and 80s no silver) - mail order "special deals" by the Calhoun's Collectors Society and similar things.
That Calhoun Society was a really bad rip off (my opinion) operating in the 1970s and 1980s out of Minnesota that went belly up in 1984 after a few legal setbacks. They sold everything collectible you could think of. All of it was hyped unbelievably and overpriced usually 10 fold or more. Nothing they sold has made a profit yet that I am aware of. A lot of the junk can not even be sold. Their rare stamp covers that sold for $6.95 each by subscription now get $0.50 each. My daughter's father-in-law now deceased had several THOUSAND of those deals. Calhoun 23 karat gold stamps were gold leaf on cardboard that are worthless.
Today, when I went in to return this group, I reviewed a pair of California gold fractionals 25 cent octagonal 1856 and 50 cent round also 1856. He paid a pretty penny but the 50 cent gold coin has got serious corrosion issues now after 40 years in storage. Did you know gold corrodes enough to split the surface open?
Well, enough of my complaints about what he had. It is just too bad that we can not educate these people BEFORE they buy.
Warn all your family and friends to check things out before investing it these GREAT deals. It is usually a waste of money.
Posted 02/12/2013 05:17 am
They all went to be melted for the silver they contained. Zero interest to me and probably to you too. REAL BAD. 
