| Author |
 Replies: 11 / Views: 2,823 |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
147 Posts |
Searching this site I can find many posts about "fake or copy" coins.
How can you tell if a coin is fake? Are they really that good that a trained eye can not tell just by looking? Are bullion eagles or proof eagles copied as well? Seems there could be a lot of money in copied gold.
Thanks to all
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
It is tough to copy gold since someone can weigh a coin and measure the density to tell if it is actually gold. So I can not see fake bullion that would fool many. $3 coins are a different story as it is worth it to copy using actual gold.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1055 Posts |
There are many books on this subject, it is especially important to know as much as you can about counterfeiting and altered states if you are buying raw coins either at shows or online. If you are interested in the gold a good book to pick up would be Whitmans Guide to US Gold Counterfeit Detection. There are other books out there that have been written on this subject, certainly a necessity when talking coins with high numismatic value. A major problem that has recently surfaced is counterfeit coins showing up in counterfeit PCGS and NGC slabs.  |
|
Valued Member
 United States
147 Posts |
|
|
Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
Good information. As A new collector this is good stuff.
|
|
Moderator
 Australia
16809 Posts |
Quote:
How can you tell if a coin is fake? Are they really that good that a trained eye can not tell just by looking? This really is like asking, "How long is a piece of string?". There are fake coins around that are so blatantly fake that they're hilarious. It's difficult to imagine even a complete novice being fooled by them. There are other fakes that are extremely good. So good, in fact, that no-one has detected them yet; even the experts are fooled. They're lurking in dealer's trays, collector's albums and museum displays where they will most likely stay until the counterfeiter is caught and confesses, an extremely expert expert spots them, or some as-yet-uninvented technology allows us to detect them. The vast majority of fake coins fall somewhere in between these two extremes; they're good enough to fool a tourist or an amateur collector, but close examination by expert eyes will reveal that they're fakes. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
some of the GOOD contemporary counterfeit coins that were made to circulate beside the real thing can be worth more than the originals. I know it almost goes against everything we believe as coin collectors but there is quite a following of these and we have one expert that frequents the forum giving allot of valuable information on the subject and from what I have heard he has quite a large collection of 8 reals that are contemporary counterfeits and is always on the lookout for new ones. I am sure we have had more counterfeiters throughout the years than what we know of here in the US where the face value was worth more than it costs to make circulating right along side of their original counterparts we just don't know about them yet. I have seen Sac and SBA dollars counterfeited and those always get a second look when you try to spend a real one so if it can be copied you can bet someone has either done it or someone will try sometime in the future |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1571 Posts |
It is pretty well documented that China is making "replicas", of just about all keys, in all denominations, and alloys. These are good enough, that the experts are starting to have trouble recognizing them! North Korea Is known to be making bogus $100.00 bills. India has been doing it's share of counterfeiting, from what I have heard. So it behoves one to be very wary, when buying coins, or notes, unless one has a lot of experience with either! It is like " fools gold". It might look real, but it ain't necessarily so!
Dick
|
|
Moderator
Australia
16809 Posts |
Quote:
some of the GOOD contemporary counterfeit coins that were made to circulate beside the real thing can be worth more than the originals. I know it almost goes against everything we believe as coin collectors but there is quite a following of these... Such collectors are in fact following a most ancient tradition. The very earliest recorded mention of anyone collecting coins in the histories is this passage in Pliny, written about 77 AD: Quote:
It is truly marvellous, that in this art, and in this only, the various methods of falsification should be made a study: for the sample of the false denarius is now an object of careful examination, and people absolutely buy the counterfeit coin at the price of many genuine ones!
Pliny the Elder, "Natural History" Book 33, Chapter 46 Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Sap- Very cool info, Sap.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
79 Posts |
They say that the face coins in PCGS holders have holders that will not stack. But, they may have fixed that.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
79 Posts |
I meant fake, not face. Need to use sp ck.
|
| |
Replies: 11 / Views: 2,823 |
|
Posted 09/01/2009 5:20 pm
