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 Replies: 93 / Views: 21,884 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5362 Posts |
The bid is over $20 and the seller indicates he did not know it was a fake and he has no more of them. It is a pulled from circulation find. So I will get out my glass and start looking.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
997 Posts |
I am going to go with a weak strike here. While in Hennings day making counterfeit nickels in quantity the way he did could be profitable, that is not the case now, or even back in 2004 (the earliest date this coin would have been faked). Even in the billion coin quantities the mint makes it costs close to or more than the face value to produce nickels. Even with the cheap labor available overseas it would be almost impossible for enough coins to be produced, shipped and distributed with enough profit potential to make it worthwhile, even for the Chinese coin foundries. Weak Strike is the most likely culprit. The nickel has had extremely low relief for the last 20 years and just a little wear combined with a tad of grease could have caused the lack of detail shown on this coin. Add in some rubbing and other PMD and this appearance is developed. The only way I could see this being a fake is as a proof of concept, someone wanted to see if he could do it. Even at this it is doubtful. The only thing that would point towards faking nickels these days is the (sort of) difficulty in reproducing the clad look of higher value coins. Being a straight alloy (the only current US or Canadian coin that is these days) it makes it easier to create a convincing fake. Faking dollar coins in the US for circulation is less likely due to the higher scrutiny the rarely circulated coins get would increase the likelihood of getting caught. I wouldn't bid the $23 or so this is at this time for a curiosity. A true Henning has collector value due to the notoriety but this coin doesn't and isn't worth anything more than 5 cents. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
n9jig: Look at the font on the two nickels for "e pluribus unum." Weak strike doesn't go between serif and sans serif font.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Quote:
A true Henning has collector value due to the notoriety but this coin doesn't and isn't worth anything more than 5 cents. True as of right now. But anytime a new counterfeit enters circulation it has the potential of becoming the next Henning. For a collector of counterfeits it also has an attraction that is inexplicable. Unfortunately most counterfeiters are never caught. Most coin forgeries made in the past couple centuries were produced by people unknown to history. So the chances of any one coin becoming as well known as Henning's effort will depend on the counterfeiter being caught and the media popularizing his efforts. I understand this anomaly of coin forgers not being caught because I have actually met several. I correspond with others. I am actually related to one. None of these men was ever caught not even suspected as far as I know and most of them are already dead. Are there female forgers? I would presume so but we may never know. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3692 Posts |
It can´t be a weak strike. The engraver´s initials are gone, just gone. Mintmark is indistinguishable, maybe a P. My guess is that the die is over-polished. The fact that the cheek is wayyy too round indicates that someone went nuts trying to polish the die therefore removing too much metal. The highest points of the coin should still have lots of detail in it, ¿no? That´s what I´m seeing.
The guy should not list this as an error already!
Overall a very crude attempt. And as always I never buy a coin without seeing the edges. Anyways I wouldn´t give this guy any credence by placing a bid. I don´t know what´s worse: passing a fake coin into circulation or selling a fake as an error for profit...
Edited by Libertad
04/15/2014 2:21 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Libertad I hear you but the auction has been identified by several different collectors who specialize in counterfeits and the fight is between them. This (if it survives which I doubt) will not be sold to an error specialist - price is past that now.
The seller now knows the coin is counterfeit.
In my own opinion the discovery copy of any new counterfeit can go sky high because collectors do not know how many will be found. If 100 were posted the price would drop below where it is now. If 1000 were posted it would drop to $1-2. Like other areas of coin collecting counterfeit collecting follows supply and demand.
There are other predictable drivers of the price of counterfeits as well.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
613 Posts |
Almost reminiscent of a third generation photocopy.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
The auction ended at about $25 - the high bidder refused to pay for the coin. The seller offered it to me for $15 and I sent the payment - then he returned the payment and said he posted it as a BIN for $15 which I of course lost.
Like to know who got it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
595 Posts |
The 'T' at the beginning of Trust looks like an I. Perhaps the counterfeiter is not a very good speller.
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Valued Member
United States
450 Posts |
Quote:
The 'T' at the beginning of Trust looks like an I. Perhaps the counterfeiter is not a very good speller. Exactly. It is an I. You can also see. On the weak struck coin you can see where the S in cents on the reverse almost touches the K, and also sticks out to the right of the K. Where it does not on the other. I also agree with the fonts not being the same. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1804 Posts |
To all.............. Quote:
On Apr-14-14 at 18:59:52 PDT, seller added the following information:
THE COIN IS CONTEMPORARY COUNTERFEIT!! My silly question is.... Who in the naughty kitchen would counterfeit a 5 cent piece? And why? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Domain555 You are posing the same question I had.
At 5 cents a coin it does not seem like the forger will make much money. But also how often does anyone ever look at a nickel anyway. Could be he figured he would NEVER be noticed.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
Yes it is but how often do you think Mr. Average Joe looks at the nickels he gets in change. AND not only a Nickel but at one time in the past a man was counterfeiting One Dollar Bills and got away with it for 20 years. And it was the only money he spent. As to this Nickel. I think it's real. Just that the reverse was made from when Lewis & Clark were going through a storm. Which is why that ship is all sort of worn.  As to Jefferson's nose. Remember that he was still a slave owner long after he should have been. I'm sure a slave hit him in the nose when possing for this Nickel.  |
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Valued Member
United States
291 Posts |
Apologizes for the dumb question, but doesn't "new" counterfeit American currency have to be turned over to the Secret service? 99% sure their are some Federal laws about this...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
jhp2104: I googled that for you and found this: http://www.secretservice.gov/money_law.shtmlShort answer is no. It is "Possession of counterfeit United States obligations with fraudulent intent." Swamperbob is bidding to collect, not bidding with fraudulent intent. The same law also protects you if you inadvertently pass a counterfeit note. Interesting note about the "above five cents." |
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Replies: 93 / Views: 21,884 |
First Page
Posted 04/15/2014 06:44 am
