What Would You Pay For A Full Set Of Reproduction Morgans?

I admit I am unsure of the legality of the transaction but I will say that I am a bit on the fence morally because this seems to be a secondary transaction (removed from the actual counterfeiter) where both parties acknowledge the high probability of fakes. Of course I am assuming that the seller was not importing or making these. If the OP is going to lock them away out of reach of shady characters who would try to pass them off as genuine I don't think it is a bad thing. Even better if the buyer keeps them for educational purposes and then counter stamps them in order that they never get circulated as genuine.

Sadly the Dansco is tainted I would only take it for free at this point :)

I would even question the Authenticity of the Dansco!
Read again ......No place for Counterfeits in Numismatics !

To those who replied, thank you very much. I asked for opinions and that's what I got.

To those (thankfully few) who chose to respond with a bit more vitriol and hyperbole than I expected (no, I won't be one of the reasons why this hobby is destroyed as it's much, much stronger than that, it's been around a lot longer than any of us and will easily outlive us all), I would like to point out that I very clearly stated this was an interesting "proposition", not a done deal or even something I went looking for.

Had this simply been a "hey, do you want buy a fake Morgan cheap" type of deal I would never have given it a second thought. Because of the unique nature of the deal, i.e. a complete set of high quality reproductions, I thought I'd ask the community for it's opinions. Perhaps these exact kinds of deals are more common than I thought? Possibly, but I've not seen one like this before, so when faced with uncertainty I sought advice. Kind of thought that was the mature, adult thing to do.

As for those of you concerned about the legal aspects of this or any other similar type situation, rest easy. The federal law concerning counterfeit coins reads as follows:

18 U.S. Code § 485.Coins or bars

Whoever falsely makes, forges, or counterfeits any coin or bar in resemblance or similitude of any coin of a denomination higher than 5 cents or any gold or silver bar coined or stamped at any mint or assay office of the United States, or in resemblance or similitude of any foreign gold or silver coin current in the United States or in actual use and circulation as money within the United States; or

Whoever passes, utters, publishes, sells, possesses, or brings into the United States any false, forged, or counterfeit coin or bar, knowing the same to be false, forged, or counterfeit, with intent to defraud any body politic or corporate, or any person, or attempts the commission of any offense described in this paragraph—

The intent to defraud requirement is what keeps the government from arresting anyone simply in possession of counterfeit coins. If it weren't for this small clause, anyone of us that possessed, accidentally or intentionally, a counterfeit coin (including a Henning Nickel or a Racketeer Nickel, both collected counterfeits) would be on their way to Leavenworth.

In any event, thanks again for everyone's input.

Good Hunting to all!

Lancek,

The seller would only be breaking the law if he was selling with the intent to defraud. Selling a counterfeit as a counterfeit is not illegal.




I never said I was going to acquire them. As I posted, I was looking for opinions and input. Some people have some thoughtful and interesting things to say about the idea, others not so much.




Again, this was an opportunity that presented itself to me in a unique way. I wasn't looking for fake Morgans, wasn't interested in fake Morgans, but when a complete set of high quality reproductions presented themselves to me I thought I'd get some input.

As I said, it seems a novelty to have a complete set and I was wondering if any other collectors saw it the same way.

don't waste your time---forget about it---