Let's say you want to check the authenticity of a particular coin to make sure it's not a fake, or perhaps has had a mintmark added or removed, or any myriad of reasons. So you send it to one of the Big Four.
Does anybody know exactly how the experts there go about determining if a coin is authentic or not? What are the regimens and tests? Can you give examples? Thanks.
Isn't it the same way Meteorologists predict the weather? Get 10 of them in a room, ask them when/if it will rain. If 6 answer yes, then it will be a 60% chance of rain tomorrow!
They use the same simple and expanded tests any one does, XRF's and comparisons to known, recorded fakes. Some of these are adept at this. Similar to identifying counterfeit bills, if you know the originals, you will spot the fakes. These guys do it for a living.
My far out explanation just how a fake gets by it this: The expert is on vacation...
Basebal21 is right pretty much knowledge and experience. The vast majority of the coins are authenticated by the grader looking at it and saying to himself "yep it's real" Only a relatively small number are ever really subjected to any tests and/or research. (They really don't have the time to do otherwise) When you have seen enough real coins, when you see a fake you automatically get that "Something is not right here" feeling.
Supposedly when they grade a coin it only takes 3 seconds for each side to come to a numerical grade . But I'm sure if they sense a fake they'll weigh it , measure and test for composition , unless their on a coffee break .
Handling fakes really helps. This is why years ago. when they were being sold on ebay, I bought some of the commonly counterfeited ones to study them.
The TPGS have a great advantage here when they have graders who have handled so many coins over the years. They also, as the vid shows, have knowledge of what diagnostics to look for.
Something I personalty use it to take pics and overlay with a known legitmate coin.
If overlaying is beyond a person's knowledge, I have also found that drawing numerous lines across the whole face of the pics, while interesting very distinct characteristics (like the vid show of the 5 in a 55 DDO cent), will normally show a fake pretty quickly.
Quote: Basebal21 is right pretty much knowledge and experience. The vast majority of the coins are authenticated by the grader looking at it and saying to himself "yep it's real" Only a relatively small number are ever really subjected to any tests and/or research. (They really don't have the time to do otherwise) When you have seen enough real coins, when you see a fake you automatically get that "Something is not right here" feeling.
So it seems that as long as a coin can pass certain diagnostic tests for its specific date/mint, it would be considered genuine.
But what if a really smart counterfeiter knew about these diagnostics and was able to fake the coin with the proper quirks in place? Take the 1916-D Mercury. You just need to have the inside of the D have a triangle shape and the serifs line up properly with the letter to the left. Boom--you got yourself a real money-maker.
I think that for a real true test, you'd need to use an electron microscope. They can look at detail millions of times smaller than a typical microscope. They would reveal re-tooling of any kind that the eye could not see.
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Posted 09/22/2017 2:14 pm
