Why Do I Collect Counterfeit Mexican Coins?

Several people have raised this question in the past but for newer members, I though it might be interesting to go over MY answer to that simple question.

I collect Mexican 8R counterfeits not because they are Mexican, but rather because they represent an under appreciated part of US numismatics. They were in fact very large part of US commerce for at least 20 years in the period from the Hard Times to the Civil War. They are coins that were handled by average citizens doing day to day business at least as often as silver coins made at the US mint.

I believe a few simple facts establish my contention:

1. In the period of 1839 to 1844 (the period documented by Dr. John L. Riddell in his book "Monograph of the Silver Dollar, Good and Bad") about 90 percent of the silver coinage in circulation in the United States was Mexican or Spanish American in origin. US manufactured coinage represented less than 10 percent of the total coin (specie) in circulation. The facts show that the US was forced to import silver, and the coins the US mint struck were almost immediately hoarded because of the high standards of manufacture. Older and WORN foreign silver coins, predominantly Mexican, stayed in circulation far longer and they were the coins used in everyday commerce.

2. A very large percentage of foreign silver coins circulating in the US were COUNTERFEIT. Estimates vary, but anywhere from 1 to 10 percent of all foreign coins were COUNTERFEIT according to various contemporary sources. Based on my count of the numbers of 8R coins I have examined over the years I have been a collector (which I guesstimate at well in excess of 250,000 in 50 plus years) I believe that the percentage is actually closer to 1 in 10. I have been keeping ebay statistics on and off for 10 years now and this year I started in May and have recorded EVERY auction involving an 8R to try to get an accurate count as of now. Those recent numbers are based on 242 examples dated before 1850 posted since May first. In that group I found 34 counterfeits (excluding suspicious coins) which works out to 14%. Later dated 8Rs are much more numerous and there are fewer forgeries (provided you eliminate the super common 1882 Zs Chinese fake I have seen over 70 of them posted). Of the later 8Rs, I have tracked 2,067 coins 73 of which were counterfeits a percentage of only 3.5%.

3. The majority (or at least a very substantial portion) of early dated Mexican counterfeits (those dated prior to 1845) seen in the US were made in the US not in Mexico. The proof of this theory lies in the rapid appearance of German Silver forgeries in the period prior to 1844. Riddell documents many GS varieties in the samples he took between 1839 and 1844. Since he published in 1845, that gives a terminal date for the manufacture of these coins of about 1844. GS was first introduced in the US in about 1837 and in Mexico over 10 years later. Mexican industry had not adopted the process for manufacture of German Silver before 1844 as far as I have been able to determine so none of the GS Riddell coins can be Mexican in origin. In addition, manufacture of counterfeit 8Rs was technically not even illegal in the US in the 1840s and passing fake coin was certainly not extensively prosecuted in the US especially during the Hard Times. But at the same time, it was illegal in Mexico to manufacture an 8R and a person involved in forgery could get hung.

Combine these facts and I think you will see that the average man on the street in the US before the Civil War was about as likely to encounter a Mexican counterfeit in his financial dealings as he was to encounter a legitimate US coin.

So if these coins circulated in numbers equal to US coins, why do so few people collect them?

Any thoughts?