RWB

Members here are not only helpful, but intensely curious about how these situations get resolved --- I.e., what authentic coins are in the group? What's their condition? Anything really rare or unusual (US of foreign)....etc. Members are, after all, collectors interested in the coins people inherit or find.

You're correct. I should have omitted the $ value - the price of gold fluctuated.

This is an interesting article about Indian gold refiners and the fake coins made from the gold by jewelers.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68596195

There were many similar reports in the early 1930s. France and Belgium were the primary countries mentioned. Occasionally, the articles will state the actual amount in Eagles or Double Eagles, but most of the time their comments are indefinite -- like the article above. European banks sold gold coins at a premium to local bourse and Central bank quotes. These coins went into small family hoards and vanished from any means of tracking them. (When off the gold exchange standard, central banks sold gold only in 400 oz bar units - about $5,000.)

The example is a commonly available, mass produced item sold to confused and unwary people. These things never touched the shores of any of Palau's 340 islands and will not purchase anything. The only currency is the US dollar -- which this thing is not.

I'm not sure....Major changes occurred when price controls were lifted on silver and then later on gold. (I think (?) silver certs could be turned in for silver bars, not just the little capsules of silver grains, up to the end of the redemption period.) The government got into the "assay office" business to supply gold for coinage, and to ensure that miners had a place to get full value for their products. The system also obviated export of raw gold during which "hidden charges" in other countries ate into American profits.

Thus far, all of the photos are of counterfeit, or highly suspect, pieces. That does not mean the collection is ALL fake. However, it suggests you should take the collection to a professional numismatist who can help you sort the fakes from real coins. The value is in the authentic coins. Fakes are worthless.
Further, pay the numismatist a fixed fee for their work. Do not sell to them until you have done more research about the authentic coins. The more you know, the better your chances of getting a fair price.

"Vindication" is not necessary. VKurtB's photo comments have been consistently accurate and reliable. Further, an analog recording (mag tape, optical turntable - sound; silver halide emulsion - image, etc.) preserves data that is much closer to the original than any digital system.... Limitations are physical not a product of arbitrary sampling. A practical outcome is that an analog recording retains far more information than a digital recording and includes a much wider usable dynamic range than digital. A few years ago NASA went back to its original film of lunar photos and discovered that there was a lot more highlight and shadow detail than in its modern digital images of the same surface features. The entire project plan had to be revised so that the "new" old data could be accurately captured. Today, we think of digital grayscale images as either 8-bit or 12-bit per pixel, but NARA had to use 48-bit grayscale to get acceptable results.
I have B&W coin photos made back in the 1960s that have more detail than anything I can do today with a DSLR.

Thus far, all of the photos are of counterfeit, or highly suspect, pieces. That does not mean the collection is ALL fake. However, it suggests you should take the collection to a professional numismatist who can help you sort the fakes from real coins. The value is in the authentic coins. Fakes are worthless.
Further, pay the numismatist a fixed fee for their work. Do not sell to them until you have done more research about the authentic coins. The more you know, the better your chances of getting a fair price.

Thus far, all of the photos are of counterfeit, or highly suspect, pieces. That does not mean the collection is ALL fake. However, it suggests you should take the collection to a professional numismatist who can help you sort the fakes from real coins. The value is in the authentic coins. Fakes are worthless.
Further, pay the numismatist a fixed fee for their work. Do not sell to them until you have done more research about the authentic coins. The more you know, the better your chances of getting a fair price.

Thus far, all of the photos are of counterfeit, or highly suspect, pieces. That does not mean the collection is ALL fake. However, it suggests you should take the collection to a professional numismatist who can help you sort the fakes from real coins. The value is in the authentic coins. Fakes are worthless.
Further, pay the numismatist a fixed fee for their work. Do not sell to them until you have done more research about the authentic coins. The more you know, the better your chances of getting a fair price.

Image is too small to be of help.

Cast bars from any of the mints or New York Assay Office were made individually and marked accordingly. M&R kept them within a range of weights simply by using the same iron molds. The employees were very good at this resulting in only small variations. The bars were raw material for manufacturers as well as bankers. There was no premium on these when made and no known collectors. Many small business users simply melted coins as needed.

I'll take a look if it will help.

The Mints routinely made precious metal bars from 1857 forward. These were sold to dental fabricators, silversmiths and other trades who wanted small quantities of metal of known purity. To be accurate these are NOT Ingots - they are "fine metal bars." (An "ingot" is a specific dimension metal bar once used to roll out strips for cutting blanks.)

No relation at all. Not the same subject or question.
The thread was about a bag of Kennedy halves that NGC "processed" into something they weren't.

My examination was conducted with complete objectivity several years before the TPG ever saw the original bag. The opinion rendered was based on all the facts available, and only on facts. The modest compensation for the work was agreed to in advance, and was not predicated on any outcome. I have no knowledge about what happened after the report was delivered, or who might or might not have read it.
[I'll add that I don't do "directed opinion" requests. The total of available facts tell the story. A brief example is the article "KING OF MORGAN DOLLARS REVISITED" (2006). ]

My examination was conducted with complete objectivity several years before the TPG ever saw the original bag. The opinion rendered was based on all the facts available, and only on facts. The modest compensation for the work was agreed to in advance, and was not predicated on any outcome. I have no knowledge about what happened after the report was delivered, or who might or might not have read it.
[I'll add that I don't do "directed opinion" requests. The total of available facts tell the story. A brief example is the article "KING OF MORGAN DOLLARS REVISITED" (2006). ]

I've done a bunch from local clubs to national shows. They are always fun to do, and I never had a negative experience. The most persistent problem was lack of time for questions. Part of this might come from having a living author present; but participants have also mentioned that they like not being "sold to" by people with a profit agenda who might give slanted replies. In some instances I've been asked to tailor a previous presentation for a different audience at a future event.
The most important factor is keeping the show moving forward -- you're telling a story and any good story has a beginning, middle and end. (This applies to coin books, too. I recently read a book that was so jumbled that it was difficult to understand what the author was trying to communicate.)
I also end by offering to aid writers, club newsletter editors, and people researching specific topics. This helps me share what I've learned with others and possibly improve future information presentations. It's also led to contacts around the world - and occasional opening of U.S. archive materials to countries whose own archives are incomplete.

الحرف "D" يعني أن العملة تم سكها في Denver Mint ولا يوجد حرف يعني Philadelphia Mint

[Clarification Note: "Strike Doubling" did NOT occur when Management prevented union members from eating 2 doughnuts instead of one, so they went on strike.]

One that's younger than me.

I am afraid that is not possible. By your own admission, you date back to B.C., i.e. Before Coins. 🤣

Nose is too big on 1950 and 2023. 
First two are out of focus, others are better.  Now the tough part -- getting light on the face of the coin w/o reflections off the mylar 2x2 windows. (No, using an Apple iFone will not help with Windows....)
 

This might help in the discussion ---or maybe not.
 The US Mint’s definition as mentioned during their annual meetings with resellers and at other times includes anyone that has put aside (“collected”) coins from circulation, or bought any coin-like product direct from the Mint or from any Mint reseller, or from any TV, internet or envelope stuffer promotion, or from newspaper ads. That is: if one saved a state quarter, you were/are a “coin collector.” The result, as we can all tell is a nonsense number – not even an estimate at the old Polo Grounds in NYC.
 A. From about 1855 to 1960 the most basic collectors were those who put aside pocket change, or kept new coins exchanged at friendly banks or merchants. (Until about 1896, people had to have the correct kind of paper currency or coin to exchange. One could not save $20 in silver coins, then take it to a bank and exchange for a double eagle.)
 B. In the 1858-1916 period a meaningful next point might be with the quantity of minor coin proof sets sold per year. Also included were those who wrote to individual mints to purchase new coins at face value. These were purchased by people willing to devote time and extra money toward acquiring special coins. These buyers also recognized that the premium they paid was likely not recoverable in their lifetime. These were coin collectors in the second (or “invested”) level.
 C. The next level – the third – are those buying from coin resellers, auctioneers, or dealers. Here, the investment of time and money were greater than direct US Mint customers, and the variety of coins available (along with associated claims of rarity) was much more intense.
 A side-level from about 1935 to the present depends on precious metal pseudo-coins originally used for emergency hoarding of sovereign-size items. These now extend to anything from Indian jewelers’ counterfeits of small denomination coins for hoarding gold on a small budget, to kilogram and larger imitations, or cute designs intended to attract attention to otherwise identical lumps.
 To reach a realistic estimate of the total number of collectors for any time period, we can add B  and C, then multiply 10-times to get A; then add A+B+C. (A, B, and C all have internal complexities and cross-purchases, so none are ideal estimates.)
 When we run out of B-level product in 1917 we don’t necessarily lose the collector – they likely split between A and C. About this time we also see a rise in merchant-driven popular advertising, especially “treasure in your change” approaches which seems to have created more A collectors. (We’ve seen something similar when comparing ASE and AGE bullion demand before and after Congress’ prohibition on US Mint coin advertising.)