14 replies to this topic

[hussulo]

Counterfeit coins being produced in China is a growing problem. Some are very easy to spot where as others, sometimes refereed to as Class 5 counterfeits are very hard to distinguish. I recently purchased a US Trade Dollar which had me beat, only after close examination by expert US trade dollar collectors I was able to find out that it was a counterfiet and return it for a refund.

Ill post pictures of it on here soon but in the mean time for anyone that hasn't seen this web page, I would recommend taking a look:

http://coins.about.c...erfeiting-Ring/

[hussulo]

As promised, pictures of the 1874 CC Trade Dollar which I bought and was confirmed by several Trade Dollar expert collectors on a US forum to be a counterfiet.

[hussulo]

Sitting on top of a Morgan


View from above


Side view


Trade (top) Morgan (bottom)


Toning shots:



Size is bang on = 38.1 mm (1.5 in)


Weight is bang on:


Sitting besides a (cleaned, scrap/ in my drawer) Morgan

[hussulo]

Close up of dentils

[hussulo]

The scary thing was, it was the perfect weight and size of an original. The only give away being was the mint mark was out and some of the dentils were weakly struck but I have to admit it had me beat.

[Freddy]

The same goes at the moment for US $20 gold ...a dealer I know recently showed me the Chinese counterfeits (which are not in 90% pure and unfortunately I didnt take pictures at the time) but size and weight 'bang on' as you say... and almost perfect except for some miniscule differences and the more 'obvious' one if you can say that, was the milling wasn't sharp enough compared with the originals.....but, my word you really had to look hard.

Also, I've seen several of the 1905 halfcrown and shilling counterfeits on eBay over the years and more recently an 1822 sovereign.

Caveat emptor as the old Romans would say......

[hussulo]

I've also seen a fair few counterfiet Northumberland shillings on eBay.

In the past the counterfeits were easier to spot as they were made from cheap metal and poorly struck or detailed. Now that some are a lot sharper and made from the right materials being the right size and weight are very hard to identify. I guess it is still worth the counterfeiters using real gold or silver as the value of the coin lies more in the date, type and rarity.

[dawn30]

greed is getting greedier, surely the thrill of having something genuine rather than the risk of prosecution is better..

[hussulo]

Thats true Dawn but unfortunately when theres money to be made someone will try and do it no matter what and I'm not to sure how strict the authorities in China are about counterfiet foreign coins.

[azda]

And also let's not forget the gothic crowns and more recently the 1864 die 64 Victoria Florin

[Chingford]

There are Victorian Copper forgeries out there too, The forgeries are not confinded to one denomination or metal, if it is collectable with a premimium

the chances are someone will try and fake it, I have seen 1860, 1851 and 1848 Halfpennies appear over the last couple of years, along with the notable

silver coinage.

[hussulo]

Hi John, how good are the forgeries you've seen? some I've seen are very easy to spot while others like the one above are getting verrryyy hard to tell.

[Chingford]

Morning Hus,

The Coppers are fairly easy to spot, I have a 1848 Halfpenny that I bought knowingly for my records, I will endeavour to image and post,

The others I have spotted on Ebay and have had them all withdrawn, the easiiest error to look for is the first one in the date, all forgeries have an extended top serif,

all are very weak strikes indicating an original coin has been used to make the mould, so all forgeries should all have the same indicators.

I'll have a trawl through my Library, sure I have images of those I listed previously.

 

John

[hussulo]

Hi John that would be very hand if you get the time to post them as it might help others and they would be interesting to see.

 

Cheers,

Hus

[Chingford]

Thanks Hus, I have emailed them to you