By Jack D. Young
My friend and half cent guru Ed Fuhrman alerted me to this one on eBay. His PM stated “I think someone just posted one of the super fake 1806 C-1 half cents on eBay. Take a look.”
I did and they did.
I have actually written two articles about these fakes for these EAC’s Penny-Wise as well as a couple for Coin Week and now this one for Proxiblog.
The subject coin is interesting as one of the very deceptive group of counterfeits I have been chasing down the rabbit hole since late 2015. This was one we saw in the 1st group of certified genuine fakes from a known CN connected buyer and group of sellers operating out of College Station Texas; I have discussed this group in many previous articles…
The listing of the subject:
eBay listing- counterfeit 1806 C-1 half cent
Yep, I made an offer knowing what this is; I chose not to discuss it upfront with the seller as I didn’t want to influence him while considering my lower offer.
I quickly marked up the posted image of the reverse with four known counterfeit tells, or attribution points for these. Done from memory, this one is burned into my mind as I owned five examples at the time with four being in TPG holders as genuine. And 14 total examples documented to date.
Subject reverse marked with 4 major attribution points of the counterfeits
So, no doubt what this one is, it is the 1st I had seen in the wild in a couple of years! I anxiously waited to see how the seller would respond to my offer.
Not for the listed price, but a fair price for what it is! And then waited to actually have it in-hand so that I could message the seller and start a conversation:
Messages through eBay with the seller after the sale
Interesting he stated this example “is from a Boston area old, abandoned coin shop”; he later stated he purchased it from the cleaning lady who cleaned the basement and painted for the owners two or three years ago.
And a nice image of this one including the edge:
Combination image of this featured example
And in-hand the main reverse attribution points for these from my microscope:
So, a good time to add some details on these from one of my previous articles:
Interestingly, there are 2 “varieties of this reverse”; apparently the counterfeiters tried a repair!
And an image of the 1st die state of the common reverse:
Reverse image from my article draft
And what about the obverse?
Obverse image from my article draft
Just an amazing number of common marks including a couple of light scratches noted! These are seen across both reverse die states.
So this example became the 6th one in my mini-hoard- talk about deep into the rabbit hole! And just a side note, I had several examples sent out for XRF testing of the metal and found them to have high levels of zinc in them, the only ones to test with that result against all of the other early copper coins we tested. Maybe the counterfeiters melted some later date Lincolns in their mix for planchets?
I did leave positive feedback for the seller but did note the coin is counterfeit.
So, I thought this the end of the story, but NO, as my articles often take a twist at the end!
And again, it was Ed who sent me a late Friday night link and said I really would like this one:
eBay listing over the weekend
I pulled up the listing and was literally shocked at the posted images!
And the special NGC label; apparently “traderbea” is a premier shop on whatnot.
eBay listing images
Look familiar?
Great images posted show all the “details”! No question what this one is and it is certified genuine by the TPG.
A quick note to my contact at the TPG resulted in an amended on-line cert:
Certainly makes it harder to sell if anyone considering a purchase takes the time to look…
Contacting the seller and discussing the issues lead to an agreement on a purchase; he had a buy-back guaranty through the whatnot dealer and of course the TPG has an authenticity guaranty as well so it is on its way to join the “Dark Side Collection.” Digging deeper into the abyss, two in a week !
And this one is recent and slipped past both an established coin dealer and a top tier TPG, and that just goes to show how deceptive they are. So maybe my 5th published article will help. …
Ended eBay listing
And I will have to update my image of the TPG certified examples in the collection!
Author’s image of 4 certified examples
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