Fake Cents Without A Replica Marked On Them

I had never even heard of Bonanza before this. Can someone explain what is going on with these replicas, more about them, where they come from. They seem like a really bad thing.

@coop, thanks for posting this.

It's disturbing. These are good enough to fool a lot of people. Just a guess, but it looks like they made a die from a genuine 1931 cent and hand-cut the fake mm. There is a counterfeit 1909-S VDB that was a spark-erosion counterfeit of a genuine 1909 VDB, with a hand cut fake mm. There are quite a few similarities to this so-called "replica."

It doesn't match the laser-cut-die-struck counterfeits from China, but even a pygmy rattler is dangerous.

Thanks again for being on top of this, coop!

I wonder if this place is just getting their stock from the Chinese and reselling?

Skating on thin ice.
I would call these
counterfeits.

Beware of the Feds !

I bit ironic in a way.

When silver coins were in circulation,
if a counterfeiter forged from less than 90% silver, the counterfeiter would attract the attention of the Law.
Now with Zincolns, the Public at least, would not bother with counterfeit Cents.
Perhaps the only Feds would.

That, until recently, was the experience with counterfeit One pound Coins in Great Britain.

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Because The U.S. Dollar is used as a reserve currency by other Nations,
there have always been plenty of One Hundred Dollar Notes, printed on World standard printing presses, with exactly the same printing processes, that have been in circulation and commonly used for normal payments outside America.

None of these counterfeits are produced in America.

Mushiness of detail is one of the easiest ways to identify a fake coin.

When a copy of a copy is made, there is always a loss of detail, doesn't matter if it is cast or struck, although struck has a greater potential to deceive. In this case, you look for die variation from genuine. There are quite a few of us here in the CCF, that are very good in their field of specialty.

I have also seen some reasonably deceiving centrifugal pressure cast fakes. There is less variation from genuine in design. Higher power magnification, with examination in hand, is how to identify these, looking for casting characteristics. If submitting pictures here in the CCF, they need to be of very high quality.

Laser optic profiling is sometimes used to make a computer model. This is then then used to program a spark erosion die cutter. I have seen fake gold coins made in this way. Look for lack of detail in and around edge of design and lettering detail. High power examination in hand is usually necessary.

Don't forget weight, diameter thickness and XRF examination to identify fakes. XRF can be deceived with plated metal surfacing. Specific gravity testing and ultrasound testing can be used to find Tungsten cores in fake gold coins and bars. Ping testing can also be useful in the right circumstances.

Any Third Party Grader and leading public numismatic auctioneer should at least have access and experience to all of these testing techniques. If they don't, you should not send your more valuable submissions to them.


That is why I have an extensive 'black' collection. You HAVE to know what to look for. I ALSO indirectly use all of the experience and testing equipment of a leading numismatic auctioneer, for a professional opinion.

I used his images. I don't any of them. Just used my editing. I saved an image from PCGS of a 1955 DDO that is a EDS coin. Just one on their site. Love the EDS coins.