Most counterfeited coins - data from NGC 0

[RWB]

This NGC site might be of interest to many forum members. It presents clear photos and descriptions of counterfeit coins most frequently encountered by NGC. These tend to be more valuable coins, although that is not always the case.

https://www.ngccoin.com/resources/counterfeit-detection/

(Note: This does not address the masses of fake Morgan dollars and other US coins currently made in China, Colorado, and Vietnam.)

[Cat Bath]

Not enough information on the 24, 26 & 27 saints to be that useful. 

Didn't the mint reuse collars from year to year after repairs? 

I'm wondering about what they call tooling marks on the 27 also.

Does the evidence for saint counterfeits look thin to you?

Edited August 28, 2020 by Cat Bath

[RWB]

21 minutes ago, Cat Bath said:

Not enough information on the 24, 26 & 27 saints to be that useful. 

Didn't the mint reuse collars from year to year after repairs? 

I'm wondering about what they call tooling marks on the 27 also.

Does the evidence for saint counterfeits look thin to you?

Counterfeit Saint-Gaudens DE are concentrated in rarer dates. Common dates, such as the ones you mentioned, have so little margin between gold and coin that they are not worth the crook's time.

Collars were used until they were worn down. They were not repairable. Lettered/starred collars have not been studied in enough detail to understand their varieties and use, but likely similar to reeded collars.

RE: 1927 DE - not sure who "they" is/are. Do you have a photo of what you refer to?

[kbbpll]

25 minutes ago, RWB said:

not sure who "they" is/are

Sounds like Cat Bath is referring to this page https://www.ngccoin.com/resources/counterfeit-detection/top/united-states/22/

There are example images of the tooling marks. One on a "stock edge" used on multiple counterfeit years. Since it seems like similar marks would be found on real ones across years if the collar was still good, the implication to me is that specific marks are found on coins already known to be counterfeit, and that's why they are pointed out.

They were "worth the crook's time", according to the link, because they were produced to get around the ban on owning gold, not for the numismatic value.

[Cat Bath]

Nothing about this coin makes me suspicious.

If it is a counterfeit, it looks to be on the level of the omega.

Back before 1974, it would require a great deal of effort to make something this convincing for very little benefit.

Picture of the tooling that they describe in article.

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by Cat Bath

[RWB]

After you've seen a few thousand SG $20s, this kind of fake will jump out and dance around. The obverse is especially bad.

:)

[Cat Bath]

4 hours ago, RWB said:

After you've seen a few thousand SG $20s, this kind of fake will jump out and dance around. The obverse is especially bad.

I have & I'm still not seeing it.

I guess I need a better picture or coin in hand.

Now this one screams fake https://coinweek.com/us-coins/us-gold-coins/counterfeit-coin-detection-1924-saint-gaudens-double-eagle/

Edited August 29, 2020 by Cat Bath

[World Colonial]

This list is by date.  For world coinage, I would expect the most widely counterfeited by type to be Spanish colonial cob 8R followed by Mexican pillar dollars.

The population counts on most of those coins are either low or not that high and even where higher, a low fraction of the most widely collected US coinage.  From this, I conclude that NGC is either seeing more fakes than genuine coins in this list or the volume of fakes is (very) low.