Liberty Seated Fakes Counterfeits and Altered Coins Topics

Liberty Seated Fakes Counterfeits and Altered Coins

Topics • Fakes consist of two different types Counterfeits – Altered coins – • Fakes exist for two purposes: – To fool merchants – To fool coin collectors Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Contemporary Counterfeits

Contemporary counterfeits • Created to fool merchants as spending money Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Different types of contemporary counterfeits Cast counterfeits, often crude Liberty Seated Collectors Club Die struck counterfeits

Collecting contemporary counterfeits Cast counterfeits in the Liberty Seated series are common – often found in change • Die struck ones are harder to come by • (from hand-engraved dies) Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Interesting examples 1854 -O Seated dime - Not silver - Crude engraving on obverse 1848 Seated dime - Copper, not silver - No attention to detail Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Interesting examples 1858 Seated quarter - Wrong color - Not silver! - Excellent engraving 1842 -O Seated quarter - Copper, not silver - Possibly once plated? - Well worn! Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Some counterfeits are rare Even if they’re ugly! • Since 20 -cent pieces were so unpopular, how many people made counterfeit ones to spend? 1875 -CC Answer: not many! Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Rare and neat! • While modern counterfeits of Trade Dollars are common, period pieces are rare! Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Rare and neat! • While modern counterfeits of Trade Dollars are common, period pieces are rare! • Plating wearing off Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Love Tokens on Contemporary Counterfeits • One somebody figured out these weren’t real coins, they did something useful with them! Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Bought as Counterfeit But… it is Genuine! XF 1876 -CC dime, struck from heavily rusted dies • Bought for $20 as counterfeit • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Numismatic Fakes

Numismatic fakes • Designed to fool coin collectors • Designed to simulate an expensive coin, or to make a common coin look like a rare or expensive one • Criminal • Some are good enough to fool honest dealers • Some even fool the grading services • Getting dangerous Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Numismatic fakes: cast counterfeits Mainly made in China • Many are somewhat crude • Often found in markets in China – Tourists buy, thinking they are getting a deal! – • Usually Liberty Seated coins Better or key date quarters, dollars, and Trade dollars – Quality caries tremendously – Most easily identified if one looks carefully – • Often found on Ebay Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Flea market-class fakes Magnetic • These should never fool a numismatist, but they do! • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Flea market-class fakes Typically found in China outdoor markets • People buy thinking they are getting a great deal • Same gash appears in the shield of two different dates! • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Flea market-class fakes Counterfeit 1883 -S Trade Dollar • Often simulate non-existent issues Liberty Seated Collectors Club Genuine

Flea market-class fakes Counterfeit 1879 -CC Trade Dollar • Flat relief and not realistic Liberty Seated Collectors Club Genuine

Ebay example – 1870 -CC Quarter Has that counterfeit “look” • Improper date and mintmark appearance • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Another Ebay example • • • Has that flat counterfeit “look” Poor date and lettering Doesn’t look like silver Liberty Seated Collectors Club Edge looks too sharp

Numismatic fakes: die-struck counterfeits • Set of dies are created… Often using transfer process from a genuine coin – Sometimes engraving dies from scratch – • Look for wire or sharp rims • Until recently, not too many die struck counterfeits for Liberty Seated coins – Now the Chinese counterfeits are here in force Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Ebay example • 1856 Liberty Seated dollar Details mushy, date not quite right, letters inconsistent • Overall relief of coin is a little flat • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Counterfeit coin in a counterfeit PCGS slab! Same concerns with the coin • Slab insert color slightly off • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Counterfeit coin in a counterfeit PCGS slab! • Plastic not flat – a little wavy Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Numismatic fakes: altered coins • Usually altered dates or added mintmarks • Sometimes removed mintmarks • Sometimes combining the front and back of two different coins (mules) • Most of these are easy to detect, if you look carefully in all the right places – Remember: a coin has three sides! Liberty Seated Collectors Club October 2006

Liberty Seated targets Not many targeted to date • Those that are see lots of action • Early CC dimes and quarters – 1878 -S halves – Possibly CC dollars as well – With Ebay, everything is fair game… Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Early CC dimes 1871 -CC, 1872 -CC, 1873 -CC, and 1874 -CC all used the same reverse die • Die crack developed at mintmark in mid-1872 • Most 1872 and all 1873 -1874 CC coins should have it • Added mintmarks will not match the mintmark below • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

1878 -S Liberty Seated half Only about 60 examples known • Target of adding an “S” to 1878 (common date) • Genuine has raised dot in reverse shield from die chip • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Ebay example – 1878 -S Quarter (added mintmark) Monkey business at mintmark area • Wrong style “S” mintmark • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

The Ebay dictionary… Statement “I’m not a coin collector. I don’t know if this is real or not. You decide. ” Meaning “I know it’s not real” Statement “From an old estate” or “From my grandfather’s estate” Meaning “It’s not from an estate” Liberty Seated Collectors Club

For Amusement! 1891 -O Seated Quarter Not technically an “Added” mintmark! Liberty Seated Collectors Club

A dangerous development • New class of counterfeit identified in 2016 – Deceptive 1872 -S Half fools grading services Liberty Seated Collectors Club

A dangerous development • Some of the newest Chinese counterfeits are good enough to fool even the grading services Most coins only get a few seconds’ glance – Many new counterfeits target dates that would not normally be suspected for lack of authenticity – • Specialized knowledge of individual issues and even varieties/die marriages can be helpful Liberty Seated Collectors Club

“ 1872 -S” Obverse matches 1872 -P Obverse 8 • Raised U-shaped mark and die markers Liberty Seated Collectors Club

“ 1872 -S” Reverse matches 1875 -S Reverse K • High very small mintmark, and TRUST Gouge Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Summary • Contemporary counterfeits are interesting, varied, and form a part of our history • Contemporary counterfeits can be an interesting supplement to a collection of Liberty Seated coins • Numismatic fakes defraud collectors and can range in quality from crude to very deceptive • Be especially careful on key dates! • Be even more careful on Ebay! • Choose slabs from companies that guarantee their work (ANACS, ICG, NGC, PCGS) Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Thank you! Any questions? www. LSCCweb. org