I'd like to start this thread where everyone can share their experience on how to tell apart fake or suspicious looking old coins and the authentic coins. I understand that there is nothing that bits the experience. To get this experience people who are new to the field need to know coins with which signs to avoid and which signs to look out for. Knowledge is power, it's important to know where you can get more information on positive coin identification and most importantly authentication. I believe there are two areas to be highlighted here: External signs (metal quality, patina, signs of age, etc.); Mint related features (compairing to original stamps, description of a coin). Share examples and your experiences, ask for opinion if you have a questionable coin and share with others what you think.
A flow chart would work well.. ill add in some basic ones.. Is the coin magnetic - FAKE Is the coin underweight/overweight to a substantial degree - FAKE Does the coin have incorrect dimensions - FAKE Looks Crude and Poorly Struck - Possible fake although certain coins may not be.. Too good to be true.. probably fake. Picked up rare old trade dollar in south asia for 50c - Fake 1for1
I disagree, they don't all = fake, so get your facts straight. Ebay does have some good sellers, as an Admin you should know better than to type BS comments like you did... I've purchased and sold 1923 Halfpennies & 1930 Pennies on ebay and all have been genuine.. People should be educated on how to pick the fakes and then they will not have a problem... Here is a start. http://www.thesandpit.net/index.php?option=1930_penny http://www.thesandpit.net/index.php?option=1923_halfpenny
I thought only a small handful of 1930 pennies ever made it out of the Mint, probably less than about 6, and most are accounted for. Wrong?
You need the machine that goes "Ping". Also the most expensive machine, just in case the Administrater shows up.... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arCITMfxvEc[/youtube]
Well, my interest is in coins with mint techniques a bit different from modern, but still, you can generally identify if the dies design is modern or not, and if it is identical to one of the known ones. Old coins in UNC are a bit more difficult to authenticate but possible. In any case, I use a few sources for that, here is one of them: http://www.mcsearch.info/index.html ... Before buying a coin I would compare it to coins that were sold in the past by reputable sellers (mostly auction houses) using this or another similar search engine. I would also discuss a coin I am interested in (if I am in doubt) on one of the forums which is most appropriate for that coin. Once received I would examine the coin visually for the signs of aging and under magnifying glass / microscope comparing its metal surface to coin metal of the same era / mintage. Generally, I will buy AU or UNC coins only from very reputable sellers / auctions. On e-Bay I am happy to buy old coins with clear signs of aging. If all coins in a group look aged in a similar manner, I would treat that with suspension as they are probably aged artificially. I also like my coins with patina, I don't like clean coins. To test with a magnet is also a good idea. If a coin is very rare or reasonably expensive and can only be found in literature description with some low quality pictures, you may want to pay a little bit of money to test it's metal on spectral analyzer at a place like Universal Coin (Melbourne).
Here is an example of a Russian modern times fake coin (new generation), something like this would be difficult to identify as a fake unless you knew that there are new skilful fakes circulating around. Dies are Very similar to the real coin dies and hard to tell apart, but the metal surface... Use of microscope is a must in a case like this one: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/233/ebay10kop1771km.jpg/
