Anyone ever see a counterfeit 3CN?

[Prethen]

I'm not referring to one that says Copy or Replica, but a true attempt at faking it either for circulation (which I doubt) or for collectors. If so, where can they be seen or bought?

[Bruceswar]

I have seen a few on Ebay. There is one chinese seller that sell them. They are supposed to say Replica, but come to you never stamped as such.

[physics-fan3.14]

I have seen a few on Ebay. There is one chinese seller that sell them. They are supposed to say Replica, but come to you never stamped as such.

 

The Chinese counterfeit anything with a premium. Has anyone ever seen a contemporary counterfeit?

[Prethen]

I guess I wouldn't want some crappy Chinese counterfeit. I guess I'd be aiming more for a contemporary counterfeit or some one-off bizarre really well done one aimed at collectors.

[bsshog40]

If you look for one aimed at collectors you're probably gonna wind up paying more than what ya want to.

[Bruceswar]

I guess I wouldn't want some crappy Chinese counterfeit. I guess I'd be aiming more for a contemporary counterfeit or some one-off bizarre really well done one aimed at collectors.

 

Some the chinese ones are very very good. I seen a Bust Dollar on the PCGS forums that russ posted asking for grades. Not a single person but TomB Questioned the coins Auth.

[ldhair]

I have a 3 cent silver contemporary counterfeit but have never seen a 3CN.

Would love to see one.

[michael]

have never seen; let alone heard of a contemporary counterfeit 3CN

 

 

 

 

[James_OldeTowne]

Both the two-cent and the three-cent counterfeits are very rare, but they do exist. Obviously, even 150 years ago, they were scarcely worth counterfeiting, but then, there are counterfeit half-cents that exist as well, and they are virtually contemporary with the odd denominations.

[MunkyMan95]

Question...

 

Just how much money was 3c back then? Was it like $1 today? $3?

 

If it's that little, I can't see many people wanting to counterfeit them (they're coins, no less) when they could just as easily counterfeit a nickel, or even a half dollar.

[dpoole]

Question...

 

Just how much money was 3c back then? Was it like $1 today? $3?

 

If it's that little, I can't see many people wanting to counterfeit them (they're coins, no less) when they could just as easily counterfeit a nickel, or even a half dollar.

 

Since they made them to purchase stamps for first class mail, a quick-and-dirty guess would be $.41.

[Bruceswar]

Question...

 

Just how much money was 3c back then? Was it like $1 today? $3?

 

If it's that little, I can't see many people wanting to counterfeit them (they're coins, no less) when they could just as easily counterfeit a nickel, or even a half dollar.

 

Since they made them to purchase stamps for first class mail, a quick-and-dirty guess would be $.41.

 

You could also buy a beer with them as well. So a few bucks?

[James_OldeTowne]

Question...

 

Just how much money was 3c back then? Was it like $1 today? $3?

 

If it's that little, I can't see many people wanting to counterfeit them (they're coins, no less) when they could just as easily counterfeit a nickel, or even a half dollar.

It would be like having a couple of dollars in your pocket today. Of course, they were used to buy postage stamps, which only cost $.41 today, but postage is quite a bit cheaper now than it was back then.

 

You could probably get a good drink or a cheap ticket to a play, or the equivalent of a sandwich back then.

[Prethen]

Does anyone have access to a price list of items between 1865-1889?

[James_OldeTowne]

You can find some various places, but be careful. Many (if not most) items do not carry a direct comparison to today's goods. For example, a pair of eyeglasses is much cheaper to manufacture today than it was back then, so your aren't comparing apples to apples.

 

Good things to compare are consumables and commodities, such as a pound of flour, a side of beef, or a bushel of corn.

 

You can google up price lists with enough persistence. Also, you can get old almanacs from the library.

[construct]

I have seen a contemporary counterfeit 3CS, but I have never seen a counterfeit 3CN of any sort.

[Conder101]

You can find some various places, but be careful. Many (if not most) items do not carry a direct comparison to today's goods. For example, a pair of eyeglasses is much cheaper to manufacture today than it was back then, so your aren't comparing apples to apples.

 

Good things to compare are consumables and commodities, such as a pound of flour, a side of beef, or a bushel of corn.

Even comparing Commodities and consumables you have to be careful for the same reason. The pound of flour or bushel of corn is a lot cheaper to produce today as well since the farmer with his tractors, combine, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and modern hybrids can grow and harvest a lot more corn or wheat per acre with less man hours than the farmer of 1860 could do. That tends to hold prices down more. That means feed costs less and more cattle can be raised. This lets other economies of scale enter into the picture again holding down prices.

 

Still I have a book that lists a wholesale commodities price index with 1860 as a basis point, 1860 = 100. The book tracks the index both forward an backward in time. The closest it comes to our time in 1992 at which point the index is 3,627.30 Or one dollar in 1860 was worth (had the buying power of) $36.27 in 1992.

 

If we then use the CPI to relate 1992 and 2007 (I know the CPI is biased but it is convenient and the time period is short.) we find that $36.27 in 1992 is the equivalent to $53.33 today or a 3 cent piece form 1861 would be worth about $1.61 today.

 

The figure that I have often heard and used for what the purchasing power of a half cent was when it was discontinued. in our current money, is 25 cents. (I've been using that figure for a couple of years now.) Using the method listed above the calculations come out to 26 cents. We are concerned about the inflationary effects of dropping the cent when it is worth 1/26th what the half cent was worth when it was discontinued? My god they must have had a DISASTER. . . not.

[Prethen]

Awesome response, Conder101...thanks!

[bsshog40]

I have seen a few on Ebay. There is one chinese seller that sell them. They are supposed to say Replica, but come to you never stamped as such.

Here is one of those but it shows replica on the coin.

replica 3cn