Counterfeit Error

I see what you mean Bob that is an obvious fake

It's PCI slabs.

Run.

They can't even grade coin grades properly. To tell the difference between a genuine and a counterfeit is a task almost impossible for them.

If it's a genuine 1870 yen, prices should be way much higher, even though it may be cleaned.

Meiji03 and gxseries - I have seen several PCI slabs where I agree with their grade and several others where I do not. So far, I have not seen a fake in one of their slabs, but I do collect counterfeits in slabs. This coin however is difficult to believe and I may bid on it. Did you notice they didn't even get the coin upright? That right there makes me suspect they have no idea what they are grading.

toast - Mr. Barnum is proven right once again.

gxseries - you have stated the case very precisely.



When it comes to rare foreign coins of several countries we are not just fighting old fashioned counterfeits that are easy to identify. The TPG services are not set up to handle every type because their staff has less expertise than most collectors who have focused on one series for years.

The new breed of forgers are making high quality dies (usually by transfer techniques) and they are striking coins on high quality planchets made to match the originals exactly. So as their techniques improve it is getting harder to spot the forgeries. At times, it is essentially impossible to tell from a picture and you start to use "other" clues. Color and edge techniques are two of the best that remain. Most forgeries are actually "proven" by comparing several copies and locating dings that were on the original coins. These dings transfer to all copies so they prove the case for forgery, but by the time you have purchased 3 copies of each suspect under competitive conditions - it gets prohibitively expensive.

XRF is often too costly and too difficult to get done - but even that test can be defeated. Once XRF has identified marker elements for a given coin, only coins known to exist before that test result became public knowledge are safe. Once the markers are published the counterfeiters use that knowledge to improve their work. That is why I NEVER write about marker elements I have discovered.

So education of collectors and some common horse sense becomes much more important as time goes on. If a coin is a BARGAIN become suspicious don't get excited because it is likely a fake.

Meiji03 - You ask
"Hmmm I have been looking through Heritage Auction Websites and I've seen some Yen that Scream fake. Do they have experts run through the coins before they post all the consignments?"

That would surprise me. Heritage has a reputation that is very good and a forgery that is obvious from a picture would surprise me. They do (at least they claim to) have experts who attribute and catalog all coins. If the coins are still on line - could you send a link? I would like to take a peek.

gxseries - I don't know too much about this series (originals that is) but there are several features on this die that simply do not look right to me. My bet is that the die is a steel fantasy production with an impact transfer central area.


Image: Japanese die Heritage jpg.jpg
26.25 KB

Hey swamper, in response to Heritage, check out the very right Yen versus the very Left. The very left one is definitely real, the one on the right is questionable, the beads are too close around the dragon, the 6 looks off, the spiral around the pearl looks off.
http://coins.heritageauctions.com/c...13876&src=pr

YOu have to sign up to see it, be a member. Anywho I photoshoped it for ya.