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3 Counterfeit Half Dollars 1915-S 1935 1936

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mds308's Avatar
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 Posted 09/15/2021  5:54 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add mds308 to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
This sounds like the start of a really bad story, however, it turned out to be very good. I went to an estate sale and found the coin collection before anybody else did. I was told by the executor for this estate that the owners brother snuck in and stole all the coins. Actually, he had stolen the gold coins and silver dollars but left a ton of other stuff. The prices were ridiculously low. Silver rounds and bars were 10-15 dollars each, commemorative half dollars were about 5 dollars each and anything I put in my pile was priced barely above face value or less. It was a once in a lifetime hit.
It took about 5 days to sort the stuff and I plucked out some fake coins. I found 5 fake half dollars. I was eventually going to crack down and buy an XRF or PMV pro. My friend has one and these things are awesome. He tested these and they have NO silver. The fakes I'm showing here are bad. I spotted them during my ID process and I'm far from being an expert. There's a 1915-S Panama-Pacific Expo, 1935 Gettysburg and a 1936 Arkansas Centennial. All three are garbage and I hammered a hole in the center so these don't end up in another collection. I'll try and get some pics of the better stuff.
3-Counterfeit-Half-Dollars-1915-S-1935-1936
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Coinfrog's Avatar
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 Posted 09/15/2021  6:02 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Coinfrog to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Very interesting story!
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 Posted 09/15/2021  9:19 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add T-BOP to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Nice pick up .
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 Posted 09/15/2021  10:26 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add NumismaticsFTW to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Wow that is an awesome score!
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commems's Avatar
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 Posted 09/15/2021  11:05 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add commems to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I recall seeing the Gettysburg and Panama-Pacific pieces here on CCF before, even a cursory look reveals them to be copies.

I don't remember if that particular Arkansas has been shown here before. We've definitely seen some Arkansas copies here (including one recently) but I'm not sure about that specific one.

Thanks for posting!


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jbuck's Avatar
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mds308's Avatar
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 Posted 09/16/2021  3:22 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mds308 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Here is one of the other counterfeit coins. This is a cast copy of the Norse American Centennial. It was tested with my friends XRF and it shows 80 percent silver. I decided not to punch a hole in this one but I will NOT resell as genuine. I'm hesitant to resell it. My friend who tested this faux coin wanted to buy it. I don't know if he'd play stupid when passing it on. I'd like to get a stamp that reads COPY. This one weighs 19.77 grams.

3-Counterfeit-Half-Dollars-1915-S-1935-1936
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commems's Avatar
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 Posted 09/16/2021  4:03 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add commems to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
@mds308: I wouldn't mess with the piece just yet.

What specifically makes you believe it is a cast copy? The images are not clear enough for me to get a good sense of the medal's surfaces.

What are the medals's measurements? Diameter? Edge thickness?

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 Posted 09/16/2021  5:58 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add mds308 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The reasons I'm leaning towards bad is the 80 percent silver, the weight with wear being heavier and you can see what appears to be a seam or unfinished edge around the octagonal sides. The thickness various depending on where along the edge of each section measured. Starting at 12 and going clockwise I get 2.43mm, 2.39mm, 2.34mm, 2.43mm, 2.75mm, 2.47mm, 2.31mm and 2.52mm. The widths are 12-6 position 30.69mm, 3-9 position 29.93mm and 2-4 position 31.06mm. These measurements are all approximate. If the 80 percent silver is correct, there's no way this is good.
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