Contemporary Counterfeit Bar Coppers?

[berylcoin-migration]

I've read that there were contemporary struck counterfeits identifiable by the way the letters cross over and under one another. Were these high quality strikings? Is any more or less known about who produced them or the circumstance of their striking than that of the originals? Are they commonly available, and how expensive are they? Any information about the counterfeit or genuine Bar Coppers would be great.

 

BC

[TomB]

I'm not familiar with contemporary struck counterfeits of this issue, however, there were counterfeits struck during the Civil War, I believe, and these did have a difference in how the letters went around/across one another. In the counterfeits, or struck copies, the A goes under the S instead of over it. I think the name of the person who made these or distributed these was Bolen.

[TomB]

I did a Google search for Bar Copper and Bolen and came across a site that gives information about them. It also has a reference for Breen, pp. 126-127 and Richard D. Kenney, Struck Copies of Early American Coins, Sanford J. Durst: New York, 1982 (rpt. of 1952), Bolen, no. 1, p. 8.

 

[berylcoin-migration]

Thanks Tom. I'm quite sure that those are the counterfeits I was thinking of--I don't know why I was under the impression that it was contemporary.

 

With only 65 struck in copper it seems this counterfeit is quite rare. Does anyone know where I might find approximate values for these? The sole reference I've found to value only said "much less" than originals.

 

BC

[TomB]

I found one previous sale on the Heritage site for the counterfeits and it was an EF40 coin that sold for $920 (with buyer's premium) less than two years ago.

[berylcoin-migration]

Thanks again, Tom. Hmmmm, I searched Heritage but apparently missed the counterfeit the first time through. I guess its getting late.

 

BC