Fakes In Shops?

The absolute best thing you can do is educate yourself on what you want to buy - you are your own first and last line of defense! The Red Book is a good start, plus any specialized books, and the forums here have a wealth of information (as you already know ). The dealer(s) may be very good, and may even have a return policy if the coin you buy turns out to be fake, but there is no guarantee he or she is an expert on any particular coin (or any coin at all, as some are just in it because it's just a business to them).

Finding a good, honest dealer is also a great idea. Someone who you can talk to about the coins you like or want, and who knows about them and how to detect any cointerfeits. A return policy or guarantee that coins will be genuine, in case you'd like to get something slabbed and it ends up returned as not genuine.

The specialized books would be specific to your type of coin, plus any that help with Counterfeit Detection. I have a good one around my desk, but I think it's buried.. I'll find it and post the name of it for you. If you have any particular series you're interested in, let us know, as we may be able to tell you of any good books on them out there.

You do need to educate yourself. As a full-time dealer now, I was
visiting a sister in Fla and did a small local coin-club show while I was there. Another dealer attempted to pass off a "added "S" " 1909 vdb onto me. When I asked why he would attempt to pass on a fake his reply was that he was taken for $700.00 and just wanted to recoup some of his loss. Most dealers are honest and educate themselfs as not to
purchase fakes, or in our case we will stamp "copy or Fake" on a coin
but education is by far the best.

I love the 2 and 3 cent coins they are beautiful coins especially the 3 cent silver piece

Having an honest dealer is a great start but not all are as sharp as others.
When we get a raw "key date" coin in the shop we look it up in counterfeit detecting books before we even make an offer.
We usually slab these coins to prove authenticity. At times my boss will buy a coin and then tell the seller if it comes back real I'll pay X amount of dollars. A receipt is issued and if comes back real we call them up and pay them.
I'm sure if we sold a coin and it came back counterfeit we'd issue a refund but hasn't happened yet.

Peace dollars you do have to be careful with. Especially the 1928. Lots of altered 28-S out there.
As for 2, 3 and 20 Cent pieces I've not really heard of counterfeiting problems.
Lovely coins by the way. I figure I own somewhere between 70-90 2 Cent pieces. Kind of like them.




Sheesh! Guys like that give dealers a real bad name. Learn from your mistakes don't pass them on.

I work at a coin store and I would trust my boss with anything. His word is his work. He gives fair prices and has been doing coins now for about 20 years so he knows his stuff. Yet a few counterfeit coins have snuck their way into the store.
For the most part. If you are buying really common coins in common grades then I would not worry to much. Sometimes coins get past dealers because they dont take the time to look at every single coin but if they are looking specificaly for fake coins then they should be able to pick them out.

My suggestion to you is if you are buying a nicer coin (28 peace) then ask the dealer to look at it and make sure it is real. Also LEARN LEARN LEARN about your coins. Look at as many real coins as possible and the fakes will stand out.

Thanks for the link! I read your other post, and good info, although it still, umm, we'll say angers me to see these fakes get out like that!

Fakes are becoming a real problem. With countries like China now making fake slabs for their fake coins, even many dealers are fooled. Almost anyone thinks that if a coin is in a slab it has to be real but lately that is slowly vanishing. A coin dealer I know that has been in the buisness of coins for possibly 50 years told me how he purchased a Merc Dime that he swore was real. It was in a slab but an off brand so he sent it to another more famous TPGS. It came back as a fake. Like he said everyone he showed that coin to never could tell it was a fake.
Then too even some TPGS's can be wrong. Another dealer at a coin show was telling me how he purchased a coin, sent it in for grading, it came back in a body bag as fake. He went it to another TPGS and it came back slabbed and graded and not noted as a fake. Stories like that make me really wonder about lots of my coins.
It used to be that the counterfeiting system was for rare or expensive coins only. However, lately even coins of little value are being faked, touched up, cleaned excessively, recoated, etc. A real idiotic attempt at this is the numerous recoated 1943 Lincoln Cents now floating around everywhere. Why would anyone spend money and time making a coin worth $0.25 look like it's worth $0.50 is an example of that.
At coin shows I see hundreds of thousands of coins for sale on hundreds of tables. With not the greatest lighting for such places I can easily see many, many fakes being sold without anyone knowing they are fakes. Makes me wonder how many coin collectors have fakes in their collections and just don't know.