Did I Receive Fake/Counterfeit Hong Kong 5 Dollar? Or It's Error?

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Author	Replies: 12 / Views: 8,516
Altaira Pillar of the Community Canada 2519 Posts	Posted 03/10/2014 6:13 pm I received these as change a couple of months ago when I was in transit at Hong Kong airport. Just checked them now. I'm unfamiliar with Hong Kong currency myself, so can anyone help me? I have them scanned in 600 ppi, but the file is over 500kb each. They are not rotated, I just suck at scanning them. If you would like to see the ones in full resolution I will upload them in a host and link them here. A coin I'm sure is real is here, it was minted 1993: The suspect counterfeit, minted 2012: You can see how much more worn the 2012 one is. I can see from here, the 2012 coin: - The three "water drops" before the 港 on the obverse is blurred, especially the third one. - There are almost no folds on the petals. - The Chinese characters are barely raised, pay attention to especially the 伍 at the reverse. They are all wider and not as sharp. - The HONG KONG andFIVE DOLLARS is wider, like it's done in bold lettering. In fact most if not all of the text looks like this. - The lettering in the groove is the other way and it is not sharp. The spacings are also wrong. I think the wrong spacing is the decisive evidence. I took a couple of photos, but they aren't good. - The milled edge is thinner and the letters are bigger. - It is thinner in overall. The photos. On the left is the 2012, on the right is the 1993. The spacing in the 2012 one is very large (near twice the 1993 one) and it is shaped oddly, it is the correct shape on the fivE end but it is just a downward slope on the Dollar end. It also has some weird shape of it like it's been chiseled or something. Well here is a hopefully better photo of that. Look at the groove. Also notice the direction of lettering. The strange shape bit of the 2012 coin is on the same distance as the straight line of the 1993 coin. Again, the groove. No curved end, just some slope. Notice on the left coin the HONG going down, on the right the HONG going up. And here is a link to the HK guide of coins, I think it is official: http://www.hkma.gov.hk/media/eng/do...eaflet_e.pdf So, is it counterfeit or is it an error? Thanks. EDIT: Sorry, I posted it in the wrong forum, can a moderator please move it to the correct forum? Thanks. Moved to World Coins forum - Sap Edited by Altaira 03/10/2014 6:37 pm Report this Post to the Staff

Sap Moderator Australia 16826 Posts	Posted 03/10/2014 6:58 pm I'm not entirely convinced that what we're seeing is not simply as a result of a change in mint. The 1993 coin would have been struck in London; I assume Hong Kong now has their coins made in China. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
Altaira Pillar of the Community Canada 2519 Posts	Posted 03/10/2014 8:13 pm Thanks for moving the topic, Sap. But I don't entirely understand what you mean, sorry. Can you clarify a bit? Edit: Incidentally I also have 2 Dollars minted 1993 and 2012. On both of them you can see the flower stamens clearly (which one overlaps which one). This is also the case in all the other coins. This looks like a bunched-up together blur. And how about the missing grooves, and the reversed lettering? Edited by Altaira 03/10/2014 8:35 pm Report this Post to the Staff
gxseries Pillar of the Community Australia 3831 Posts	Posted 03/10/2014 8:29 pm The last time Hong Kong issued coins were back in 1998. It has been a good 14 years hiatus before coins were struck again in 2012. I suspect a different mint struck the coins therefore the details may look different. My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseries My numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htm Regularly updated at least once a month. Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16826 Posts	Posted 03/10/2014 8:45 pm To an extent, comparing a 1993 coin with a 2012 coin might be comparing two different coins, as they were minted in different places. I'm only basing this of what I've experienced in other coin series; for example, New Zealand coins minted in Canada look radically different to the New Zealand coins of the same type minted in South Africa. If this were true, then the differences you're seeing would merely qualify as a "variety", rather than an error or a sign of being a counterfeit. A better indication would be if you could get your hands on some more 2012-dated 5 dollar coins, and see if yours is radically different to the others. Unfortunately, from what I'm seeing of pictures of other 2012 HK$5 coins in the internet, I'm becoming inclined to agree with you that it is indeed a fake. The "mushy" details on the flower are the most concerning to me, since I'm not seeing that on any of the others. Example. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
Altaira Pillar of the Community Canada 2519 Posts	Posted 03/10/2014 8:49 pm I see. But this one's really strange, the ridge bit. How it's supposed to look like: How mine looks like: And the spacing between my coin is also almost twice the how big it should be. Report this Post to the Staff
Altaira Pillar of the Community Canada 2519 Posts	Posted 03/10/2014 8:49 pm It got double posted, sorry. Edited by Altaira 03/10/2014 8:50 pm Report this Post to the Staff
wonghinghi Pillar of the Community Hong Kong 1270 Posts	Posted 03/11/2014 08:44 am I don't know where the 1993 5 dollar struck but I am quite sure the 2012 5 dollar was struck in Hong Kong. Hong Kong also has a mint. I have compared my two years' 5 dollar coins bit by bit from my pocket, I find them exactly the same so I believe they were struck by same mint and same die. The two coins showed are genuine to me. Report this Post to the Staff
wonghinghi Pillar of the Community Hong Kong 1270 Posts	Posted 03/11/2014 10:38 am No counterfeiters would do such a fine/fair coin like yours SlurEx97. Where do the profit come from? Please note that HK5$ = 64 cents of US Report this Post to the Staff
Numismat Pillar of the Community United States 1666 Posts	Posted 03/11/2014 11:51 am I agree with you on this particular coin wong, buy occasionally counterfeits are not about profit so much as about art. Look up the Henning nickel, a counterfeit of US 5 cent coins between 1939 and 1953. The guy even left a sort of signature to identify his coins from genuine pieces. He also lost at least $5,000 dollars (in 1950's money) and went to jail for his effort. Report this Post to the Staff
gxseries Pillar of the Community Australia 3831 Posts	Posted 03/11/2014 7:43 pm Counterfeit coins can exist. I do have an example of a counterfeit Chinese 1 yuan coin which is worth a mere 12 US cent. At this point of time, I don't think it is a counterfeit as I believe the coins were struck at a different location. My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseries My numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htm Regularly updated at least once a month. Report this Post to the Staff
wonghinghi Pillar of the Community Hong Kong 1270 Posts	Posted 03/12/2014 09:16 am Quote: Counterfeit coins can exist. I do have an example of a counterfeit Chinese 1 yuan coin which is worth a mere 12 US cent Totally agreed. I have a HK1$ counterfeit (worths 12.8 US cents) but it is much mcuh crude. The two $5 shown here look decent, it can't be a counterfeit. Report this Post to the Staff
Altaira Pillar of the Community Canada 2519 Posts	Posted 03/12/2014 2:39 pm Oh, okay then, my mistake. Thanks for all your input, everyone. Report this Post to the Staff
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Did I Receive Counterfeit Hong Kong 5 Dollar? Or It's Error?