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I wonder if you would lead a discussion of how one goes about "collecting" Counterfeits. Pitfalls, triumphs, ... Where do you look for them? How do you stay proper and legal?
I'd love to lead such a discussion. :-)
One doesn't really need to worry about any legal ramifications provided that you're honest about what you have.
In short: In most countries, owning counterfeits is perfectly legal.
Fraud, however, is not. :-)
For example, the Secret Service won't bother someone buying and selling Henning Nickels as Henning Nickels; but, if someone tries to pass a bad
Trade dollar as the genuine article and they're reported, their goose is cooked (as the Secret Service is exacting and efficient at tracking that sort of fraud down).
Most of my collections of
contemporary counterfeits come from coin dealers at coin shows as they're quite collectible to begin with. However, that doesn't preclude having to ask around the whole bourse floor before finding a lead. :-) Things like Henning Nickels and Micro O Morgans generally aren't advertised, but at a small show you might find 1 or 2 if you're persistent enough. I've also just collected my first contemporary-modern counterfeit out of circulation (a South-American-forged 2000-D
Sacagawea dollar).
Most of my collections of
modern counterfeits, on the other hand, come from bullion dealers who have found them hidden in large lots. That's also not to speak poorly of bullion dealers, as even the most well-learned dealer will be fooled a couple times simply because counterfeits are ubiquitous and with the sheer volume of coins that pass through their hands every year it's just a matter of time.
Inexperienced dealers, on the other hand, can make disastrous mistakes, and the largest lot of fakes I've obtained at a single time (110 bogus "silver" dollars) was from someone who thought they bought them for a steal at $15 a piece (this was when silver was topping out at around $35+/ozt).
Most dealers who obtain modern fakes in the course of their business really can't do anything with them either, so they're quite happy to get them off their hands for a few dollars each (that way it's not a complete and total loss for them).
However, a common pitfall in that area is that some dealers want to try and recoup as much of their loss as they can (as remember they buy them as genuine), so they'll press for a higher price than they're worth.
Some "triumphs" were discovering different die markers that allowed me to identify different counterfeit sets (the "Bloody Eagles" for example) and sometimes even track down where those sets were manufactured.
I also love collecting fantasy date sets, such as 1894 and later Carson City
Morgan dollars or "off by 100+ years" sets (including such pieces as the famous
1963-CC Seated Liberty dollar :-) ).
It was also fun -- at one time -- to try and collect "common date" sets for phony Morgan and
Peace dollars as fake key dates were what was abundant to find. However, with the recent spike in precious metals prices, common dates are not as challenging as they used to be as counterfeiters are turning to them to try and slip under the radar. I haven't tried picking it back up with smaller-denomination coins, though, but I imagine it might be challenging enough to be fun.
Anyways those are a couple thoughts to chew on. :-)
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Posted 08/04/2012 02:56 am
