Cheapest counterfeited coins  

 

It's a matter of time before banks start checking for counterfeit coinage.

The fact that China is producing such large numbers of counterfeits is actually turning me
away from some areas of the hobby. Another board had a Carr article stating that old mint
presses were sold to China to be used for making their coins. Instead just this one facility
is producing 100,000 fakes a month!
How does the collector protect oneself from the dishonest? How many fakes will it take to
remove all trust and crater prices for bars and raw coins?

This doesn't qualify as a modern fake, but I've got to mention the Hennings nickel here. He wasn't after a huge pay day for a rare coin, he was after five cents.

Since there are fake 1964 dimes, there must also be fake 1964 quarters, right?

Of course there are

I started out as a child. You can make a dime out of a cent by placing it on the train tracks. Also, my father was an electrician and I saved those slugs that came off of outlet boxes.

If you adjust a copier for 1:1 be sure to change it back before the maintenance tech pops in.

Wait, you mean large quantity counterfeiting?

A thing to note, their price for the fake 1958 cent is $1.44/piece and of course, there have been zero buys so far. Why even bother?

But the Chinese Fake-Mart listings do show there are buyers of the fakes of German coins from Germany, Slovakia, Spain, and other European Countries. Once this garbage filters through to Europe in larger quantities, even amassing a "junk bin" collection won't be possible without running the risk of obtaining fakes. It is often this kind of coins that people start their collection with, at least here.

Of course, in the long run, this kind of mass counterfeiting provides an opportunity for the TPGs. Will the start checking metal contents of the coins submitted to them? Will they lower prices so that it makes sense to slab low-value coins? Will the expand the availability of their services?

But if we're seeing the beginning of a "no coin is safe from counterfeiting" era, will this fact not drive most people away from collecting, since purchasing coins will seem like going out of your way to get duped?

Fake 1 reichspfennig, Third Reich type





Note: seemingly very little detail on the leaves.
Fakes of all date/mintmark combinations exist.


Fake 5 reichspfennig, Third Reich type





Note: seemingly very little detail on the leaves, or a very distinct stem on the left leaf but not on the right (two different reverses used?)
Fakes of all dates (at least) with A, B, E, G, and J mintmarks exist.


Fake 2 RM, Hindenburg.





Fakes of all date/mintmark combinations exist.
Obviously, there are fake Hindenburg 5 RM coins as well.

Nothing really is off the limits, indeed

Cheap fantasy monetary tokens have been produced as souvenir items. Some are 'extensions' of a former series of genuine commemorative coins. Example: The DRC had a small 'endangered species' series of genuine silver coins. On its continuation of silvered fantasy coins, the legend switches over from French to English.