I am writing to self-admit what could be perceived as a personally embarrassing fact ... I have been snookered and own a counterfeit 1925-S California as part of my circulated set of classic silver commemorative.
Of course ... the nature of my sharing the details below is to look out for all of you ... and remind us all to be vigilant in authenticating our coins.
The offending coin was purchased via E-Pray on October 22, 2010. Cost me $97.60. Auction stipulated 'No Returns". I thought at the time that I had a nice XF40 or so example for my circulated set ... so in the Dansco it went without much further notice from me.
Anyways ... I was going through the set yesterday, closely examining each coin ... and with the increased knowledge that I have today my circulated California jumped out as 'not right'.
For comparison ... here is a photo of my PCGS MS65 California ... a know authentic example.
Here is a photo of my counterfeit California ...
Here are the in-hand observations that lead me to the unfortunate knowledge that the second (circulated) coin is counterfeit:
1. The coin weighs 11.66 grams ... well below the 12.5g nominal for the date and well below comparable circulated condition coins in my set.
2. The legends are 'mushy' and not nearly crisp enough ... compare for example "In God We Trust" between the two coins ... however the counterfeit die was prepared, that process resulted in a loss of 'crispness' in all the legends. Look as well at the top half of the miners pan ... same result ... loss of detail that is not due to circulation wear.
3. The surfaces are somewhat porous in spots ... that is probably what first caught my eye yesterday.
4. There is a great marker to identify this particular counterfeit going forward. On the obverse field, between "E" and "R" of Liberty is a raised piece of metal ... that is ... proud of the surface and not incuse. It appears as a bag hit in my poor photo above ... but is not.
Sooo ... there you have it ... my mea-culpa that I have been snookered.
At least the coin appears to be made from a silver alloy ... so I do have some melt value.
Lesson to me ... and hopefully to all of you ... there are people out there making fakes of everything!
Knowledge is our best defense. I wish back then I owned a scale, had a genuine coin to compare to ... and was better prepared to protect myself.
That said ... this unfortunate purchase will not deter me from my enjoyment and pursuit of my collecting goals ... and I hope some of you learned a bit as well from what I shared in this thread.
David
Posted 12/23/2011 3:50 pm
PG
