By Jack D. Young
Both of these “coins” were certified as genuine by the noted third party grading company, so they have to be genuine, right?
Authors images of both obverse slabs
Not so fast! Look up the cert on the PCGS example, you get a clue. The IGC cert is apparently still active.
TPG’s on-line cert verification
Both TPGs are aware these are “not-genuine” and both noted similar timelines for submission.
Both indicated these were submitted in the 2008-2009 time period. Additional images of both:
So, what ties these 2 together?
Went to my low-cost microscope to see and after scanning closeup sections of both I developed these combination images; the effort here is to determine if there are any common “circulation” marks:
Circulation marks in the same area of the 2 different coins
I have circled in red obvious common markers between these two different dated coins starting with the reverse at UNITED. As I move on to other areas you will note I start running out of red ink!
And again, the significance of this is these are not die state markers of a genuine die/ coin, they are circulation marks, dings, dents, scratches that should only be on one genuine coin. NOT 2, and certainly NOT 2 different dates!
I continue now with 3 other areas of the reverse.
Highlighted common circulation marks around the “R”
Highlighted common circulation marks around the DOLLAR
And some pretty significant ones around the eagle’s head:
Highlighted common circulation marks around the eagle’s head
Many of these marks are visible to the naked eye or with a light glass. They were obvious to my friends at my local Coin Shop, where they both tested 90% silver.
And what about the obverses? Well, my images aren’t great, and my microscope scan didn’t show any notable common marks, but the strike comparison is apparent even in these images:
The two subject coins obverses
As one of my TPG contacts stated, “the obverse rim looks wider on the left than on the right. This is a characteristic found on fakes.”
This is my 2nd Proxiblog article on bad Trade Dollars, one of the historically most counterfeited coins in the US series. Not only should collectors know the series should they collect them but also keep a keen eye out for the many fakes out there.
Finally, we can’t rely on the “sacred cow” of trusting the slab, as there not only are many counterfeit coins in counterfeit holders, but on occasion a counterfeit in a genuine TPG holder certified as genuine.
This is what keeps me up at night.
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