1795 US Dollar - Counterfeit ?

It certainly does - doesn't it! But it is not a PERFECT match. I just placed the two side by side and did a point by point analysis and both copy the same exemplar but these are two different die pairs.

I absolutely believe it is a counterfeit and if I only had a better scan of my copy (which is in the bank, I could prove it).

Anyway, I would be willing to bet that the buyer will soon have buyer's remorse. That is unless he puts it away for a future sale.

The "E" is where the "B" is at on the swamperbob coin but to tell the truth I am not sure either is the real thing

Although the seller has this to say:
"All of our coins are 100% guaranteed to be authentic and we offer refunds on all our items within 14 days,please view the return policy."

I'm having a HUGE problem with the eagle on the reverse... it just does'nt look right...

Bryan,
We always talk about counterfeit dollars but not much about other coins. Because the draped bust coin is being used here could it also be said that the draped bust Half Cent and large cent could be made in counterfeit also ?I have never heard of a counterfeit half of large cent but are they out there ? I do not buy on e-bay but for that kind of money I think I would won't the coin from a top TPG.

BRUCE.

Hi Bruce - the Half Cent and Large Cents were in fact counterfeited but the contemporary circulating counterfeits are rather RARE and valuable. One example that I like to get people going on is the 1795 Jefferson head Cent. Was it a sanctioned issue or a counterfeit? How about the "1804 Restrike". Was that a counterfeit or not?

The modern copies (numismatic Forgeries) and alterations are much more prevalent and worth a LOT LESS. The 1799 immediately comes to mind.

I do not know of any denomination of US coin that has NOT been forged. I have two great forged 3 cent silver coins that I love - both contemporaries made from hand engraved dies. I have seen everything but a $4 gold coin in person. But even on the Stella, I have seen pictures of a wonderful counterfeit.

As a rule of thumb, it is essential that you KNOW who you are buying from and WHAT you are buying. Until you know your series - relying on TPGs is the best you can do.

The 1795 coins were made from dies that were produced by individual elemental punching. For that reason no two dies are the same. The problem is that this coin has apparent "post strike damage" that is seen on other essentially identical coins. The coin was struck from a pair of dies CAST from an original.

longnine009 I missed your comment about the small curl. Not only can modern transfer processes pick up features that small - they can pick up features much MUCH smaller.

There are several different ways to make dies and molds from real coins. Gone are the days of lead castings in plaster molds. Some of the current techniques are easily spotted others are not, but the use of dental plastic can and does produce very small features - some of which are only visible under magnification. This development which is the origin of many of the Chinese fakes has made die forgery rather easy and inexpensive. Even though the dies only last for a few strikes, they can be made cheaply and QUICKLY. That is one reason why the fakes are proliferating so darned fast. They can buy a coin and make a copy within an hour or two. That is also why some of the Beijing forgers are actually taking orders for specific coins.

The world of counterfeits is complex but VERY INTERESTING. I have been following this side of the hobby for nearly 50 years now (since 1960) and there are new things I am learning (or re-learning) daily. One thing I have recently learned is that short term memory is the first thing to go.

quote:

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Originally posted by swamperbob

longnine009

Some of the current techniques are easily spotted others are not, but the use of dental plastic can and does produce very small features - some of which are only visible under magnification.

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This is one of the reasons why I suspect we're losing ground with forgers. There was a time when that would be turned against forgers with the ANAAB files because it would also pick up the smallest blemish on the host coin. When "repeaters" showed up they most certainly were forgeries. There wasn't anyone else around back in the 70's and early 80's authenticating coins, just ANAAB and INS. I'm not sure many people even knew about INS so ANAAB was something of the "central clearing house." Building up a data base was easy. Now submissions are defused through many TPGs. As far as I know ANAAB is gone. Who's the keeper of the files today?