Mexican Silver Dollars.

Sad. These counterfeits will be the death of the hobby. Buyers will be afrad to buy, Sellers won't be able to get a fair price.

darn I just read that they had no silver my bad.

yeah, I couldn't find much on ebay because I didn't know what they are called to search

Yes - even the Olympic 25 Peso and the other common bullion coins are being copied in Nickel-copper and steel.

This particular grouping of coin types is often seen together in flea markets. They are made in China and appear in large amounts in the Hong Kong open air shops. They sell for as little as 10 cents US each. They have been around for at least 15 years and are often sold in sets - which makes them easier to spot. The only one missing is the Cabaleto peso which is also part of the typical set.

You can spot these because they are always underweight, often magnetic and usually they have poorly executed edges. The reeds are applied with either a tapered ring die resulting in split top reeds or with a single bar edger resulting in an overlap in the reeds at one point.

Probably your penny is also a counterfeit.The good thing is you take you lesson.The money you spent is your tuition

There actually is another good lesson to be drawn from this whole scenario. You said:




As collectors, I know that it is tempting to get a "bargain" but that focus is the reason the scam works as well as it does. Each of these coins (if real) should sell in the $20 range. That is a minimum "fair" price for the silver bullion. So why should we expect to buy a $20 item for $5. That amounts to a real "steal" but the seller is the victim.

Some of the most successful coin investors I know will make a fair counter offer when presented with under priced coins. I do the same thing.

You may ask
Easy - the referrals. Sure I know some guys who rip off old ladies by buying coins and antiques way under fair market but who gets the really big deals?

I am in the process of disposing of a major collection right now. The George Perkins Library collection is spectacular - but the people involved relied on my reputation before entrusting anything to me. The lawyer and the chief investor who suggested me did the same. If I had been cheating my way along small deal to small deal, I would have never gotten access to this amazing collection.

I can not count the number of cases where I have RAISED an offer to buy when the seller is a NOVICE - who lacks technical knowledge. I will even do it with a professional dealer IF I THINK HE IS HONEST. I search dealer stock all the time looking for fakes but in the process I also discover unrecognized rarities. If the coin is within my area of interest - I offer a fair wholesale price. If I do not collect the type I simply explain what he has. I also explain WHY the coin is under priced. I did that with an undiagnosed rare 8R variety just recently with a novice dealer. His coin was worth $200 or more but he had it listed for $35. So I told him exactly what he had.

For me - it is simply a matter of honesty - I hope other collectors with more knowledge will do the same for me. On a selfish note, I also convince many more people that their RARITY is really a forgery and they accept pennies on the dollar.

For me reputation is more valuable than any "deal" or "steal".

You're exactly right, swamperbob! And thanks for the explanation about the counterfeits.

The lesson sucks, Yonatin, but thankfully it wasn't as bad as it could have been.