Increasingly on Facebook coin groups and across social media, people are posting fake Chinese rare U.S. dollars, asking for a value. This post gives you strategies to identify such fakes.
There is no exact figure for the number of early dollar counterfeit coins produced in China, but experts estimate the volume to be in the millions. Chinese manufacturing operations utilize modern technology like lasers and 3D printing to mass-produce hundreds of thousands of sophisticated fake coins monthly.
We will start with the heavily faked 1800 silver dollar below, and show you the steps to take to find counterfeits.
Authentic Draped Bust silver dollars feature an edge inscribed with “HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT.” The United States Mint did not transition to reeding on silver dollars until 1840. A reeded or plain edge on such a dollar is a dead giveaway that the coin is fake.
Lettered edges also include small decorative symbols between the words, such as stars, circles, and squares or rectangles.
Some quick tips before methods: Don’t buy coins from Etsy or Temu. Replicas abound there. If prices are too good to be true, they are. Also, stop believing hyped videos like this:
With that out of the way, go to PCGS CoinFacts and look up the weight, diameter and metal composition.
If your coin is lighter or heavier than the 27 grams, or if the diameter is wrong, you have a counterfeit. Use a magnet to test if the coin is a base metal or silver. If the coin sticks to the magnet, it is fake.
Compare the devices of your coin to an authentic one at CoinFacts. I am doing so here with a Facebook photo asking an identifications group for a grade.
Let’s compare:
- Space between date and rim is wrong along with the font size/type/spacing of the date. (Also note how the 1 in the date almost touches the hair curl, but doesn’t in the fake.)
- Spacing again is too great in the fake coin, and the metal texture isn’t smooth. It’s grainy.
- Stars are different.
- Space between star and “L” of “Liberty” differs.
- Hair is different, too, and spaced awkwardly on the fake. Also, again, font is wrong size/type.
- Rim is different. The fake also has a poorly minted collar.
- Face, especially the nose, is different and awkward.
- Spacing between last 0 and date is off as well as the bust and rim.
There are other red flags in the devices, but we’ll leave it at that.
Also, many Chinese fakes are poured into a mold as opposed to being struck at the mint.
When you ask a Facebook group member to authenticate your coin, or grade it for you, and you are told the truth about it, don’t become angry at the comments. Be angry at the person or site that sold you the fake. Demand your money back.
Read and then cite the U.S. Hobby Act, especially this clause: “An imitation numismatic item which is manufactured in the United States, or imported into the United States for introduction into or distribution in commerce, shall be plainly and permanently marked ‘COPY.'”
If you want to learn more about detecting counterfeits, with more strategies, click here.
If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.
Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.
You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.
