Fake Oval O on 1897-O Morgan

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

By Jack Riley

In Numismatics, authenticity generally serves as the foundation in which all other qualities–such as grade, variety, and historical importance–are evaluated. Without certainty of authenticity, a coin’s value is nullified. This article was prompted by a recent eBay listing for an 1897-O Morgan Dollar offered at $250, which upon review, was determined to be counterfeit. For ethical reasons, the seller’s identity will remain undisclosed. After being contacted, the seller acted responsibly by immediately removing the listing and clarifying that they had been unaware of the coin’s illegitimacy. Their swift response and willingness to prevent the sale of a counterfeit merits recognition.

Here is a closer view of the coin in question. Immediately noticing the “Oval O” reverse which is not seen on 1897 dated coins, one can see something is wrong!

Image from an 1880-O courtesy of my friend Dave Jordan that shares a common reverse to the 1897-O listed on eBay.

A side by side comparison shows common markers related to this “Family.” Noteworthy markers include:

Oval O set left
Indent above the 2 berries below the right wing
Depression mark in the eagles left wing (viewers right) just above the tip of the wreath
Minor depression mark of the “I” in America

It is worth mentioning this reverse has been seen on 1895-O dated coins with an additional crack through the “T” of United. These are better quality counterfeits than many you may come across.

By understanding how die markers are used and by carefully examining coins for inconsistencies, coin collectors can increase their ability to identify counterfeit coins.

If you like posts like this, please go to our counterfeit archive with reports from Jack Riley, Jack D. Young and Michael Bugeja. Also, please subscribe so you can get our weekly newsletter and be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

You can find more information about errors and varieties as well as buying and bidding on coins in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider purchasing the work for yourself or a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist website. Thank you.

Sunken Dies Resemble Heat Damage

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

Sunken die errors occur when a die’s surface deteriorates to such extent that it collapses, typically due to subpar planchets or hardening of those planchets, resulting in a recessed or “sunken” area on the die along with a raised portion of metal.

Let’s begin with showing how similar a sunken die is when compared with a heat damaged coin:

To tell the difference, look for that raised portion on the surface. Heat damaged coins have a bubble-like look from melting metal–a key distinction.

Also, die cracks often appear along the margin of a sunken die.

The opposite side of a sunken-die coin shows more of the design with tell-tale deformities depending on the severity of the die subsidence.

Let’s look at the reverse of the sunken die cent above:

The edge here is largely intact. Also, elements of the design are visible.

Heat damage can affect a coin’s service in several ways due high temperature. For instance, a coin melted in part in a house fire may look different from one exposed to a blow torch.

Look for discoloration of the metal ranging from rainbow patina to black or rust-like tone. The heat-damaged coin earlier has the tell-tale rainbow discoloration:

Also, check for edge damage appearing squeezed or distorted due to melting. Edges of sunken dies may have relatively damage-free appearance. If a clad coin, heat also can expose the different metals, often in patches.

In conclusion, here are key differences

Origin: Sunken die errors occur during the minting process due to a flawed die, while heat damage occurs after the coin has been minted due to environmental factors.
Nature of abnormality: Sunken die errors typically manifest as a raised area on the coin’s surface, exposing the sunken portion of the die. Heat damage can create a range of surface irregularities, discoloration, and deformation not associated with the die’s design.
Context: If a coin exhibits a raised area that seems to be a part of the original design, but appears distorted or indistinct, it might be a sunken die error. If the coin shows signs of burning, melting, or discoloration, it’s more likely to be heat damage.

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Identifying Fake 1909-S VDB Cents

Posted on August 28, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

The key date of the Wheat Cent series is not only among the most popular of U.S. coins but also one of the most counterfeited ones, too, due to its value, rarity and ease of alteration. This is why Proxiblog recommends that collectors authenticate their raw coins with a top third-party grader. There are just too many fake coins out there.

But how to tell?

This article provides several die markers so that you can verify whether a coin is real before you purchase it. But before introducing them, we need to revisit coin history.

Controversial Initials

Fake 1909-S VDB cents have sullied the hobby ever since the U.S. Mint called attention to it by repositioning the designer’s initials from the reverse to the obverse in a much less conspicuous place.

Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh disliked the prominence of Victor David Brenner’s initials and stopped production in August of that year, removing initials entirely on the remaining 1909 and 1909-S cents. That is why you only find the initials on some 1909 and 1909-S examples. In fact, those initials did not appear again until 1918 when the VDB appears below Lincoln’s shoulders. That’s how angry MacVeagh was. But he wasn’t thinking about counterfeits at the time even though his actions inadvertently made altered dates easy.

Scammers realized they stood to make big profits merely by adding:

An “S” to a 1909 VDB cent.
VDB to a 1909-S cent.
An “S” and “V.D.B” to a 1909 cent.

Rationale to do this concerned the scant 484,000 mintage of the key date 1909-S VDB and the high mintage of the Philadelphia coins (72,702,618 regular 1909 cents and 27,995,000 1909 VDB cents). The 1909-S NO VDB has a small mintage of 1,825,000 and is considered a semi-key date. But even these have been used in altered coins.

Values are synced with mintages. An EF45 1909 regular retails for about $7; 1909 VDB, $20; 1909-S, $200; and 1909-S VDB, $1,450.

In addition to the tens of thousands of altered dates over the years, current hobbyists have to contend with Chinese counterfeits and replicas sold as authentic on eBay and other venues.

This is why it is essential to know attributes of the dies that struck the rarity.

1909-S VDB Markers

As NGC reported in 2016 that just one “S” mintmark punch was used on all San Francisco Lincoln cent issues from 1909 to 1916. This is the first step in identifying a fake.

Real “S” mintmarks have a nodule here:

Now compare mintmarks with a genuine, added mintmark and cast replica mintmark:

As you can see, the real mintmark has a Roman font with serif. The added mintmark doesn’t. The replica has a serif but no nodule.

There are also four mintmark positions with respect to the date, with each edging a tad lower from the first 9 and 0 of 1909.

Mintmark 1 has the highest “S” with the top close to the first 9 of the date.
Mintmark 2 has the top of the “S” equal distance between the first 9 and 0 of the date.
Mintmark 3 also has the top of the “S” closer to the 0 of the date than the first 9.
Mintmark 4 has the lowest position with top of the “S” nearly flush under the 0 of the date.

Another die marker concerns the initials themselves. The “B” in VDB has a slanted crossbar; fakes usually forget this.

The last die marker concerns the extra thick stem of the letter “N” in “United.” A fake coin often forgets this minor detail.

If you like posts like this, you can read more articles on buying, selling and collecting at Proxiblog.org. Also, please subscribe to get our weekly newsletter and be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Family of Fake Half Cents

Posted on August 23, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

By Jack Riley

The saga continues of “new” counterfeits popping up on the market. In my downtime I enjoy browsing online sites and forums. In my search I stumbled across this 1857 half cent listed by what I would consider an average seller. Plenty of listings, with a number of them being genuine coins.

With only one die marriage being the C-1 for circulation issues, this should be a simple coin to attribute. Bay listing (Top) compared to a PCGS certified example (bottom). Clearly the date doesn’t attribute!

Following this, I set out to find more of the “family.” It didn’t take long to stumbled upon this 1854 example that shares a common reverse!

Both coins share this reverse with a large depression in the “N” and a line through the H of “Half.”

Fellow Proxiblog contributor Jack Young sent an eBay link of a spurious seller, and within the listings, it yielded another date sharing this reverse!

There seems to always be a “new one” weekly!

Because of that, I urge collectors to attribute a coin if they intend to buy it or at minimal ask a second opinion.

Attribution of a coin can be done by anyone, even without books! PCGS CoinFacts app as well as NGC’s variety plus are great tools that show images of many die marriages for most series. Compare your coin to the known varieties and determine if it matches. Many things play a factor such as date position relative to the denticles, star orientation, reverse lettering spacing.

Recognizing these differences will prepare you to attribute tougher varieties!

If you like posts like this, you can read more articles on counterfeit coins by Jack D. Young, Jack Riley and Michael Bugeja at this URL. Also, please subscribe so you can get our weekly newsletter and be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

GSA Dollars with Flaws

Posted on August 20, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

If you have one, it may not be uncirculated or even authentic

Just because your GSA dollar is in its original US Mint holder doesn’t mean you have an uncirculated gem. Moreover, some are counterfeit and others so damaged that the government gave buyers a warning–see below–often missing when the coin is being sold online or in estate auctions:

The type of holder also indicates a potentially flawed Carson City dollar:

Here’s how the Mint categorized Carson City dollars in GSA holders:

Uncirculated Coins: Carson City silver dollars deemed to be in uncirculated condition were encapsulated in special hard plastic holders with “Carson City Uncirculated Silver Dollar” printed on them. These were accompanied by a numbered Certificate of Authenticity and presented in a black box with a velvet lining.
Other Condition Coins: Some coins showed wear or unsightly toning and were therefore not classified as uncirculated. These coins were also encapsulated in the hard plastic holders but without the “uncirculated” designation. They were still accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity, however, these COAs were blank, rather than numbered.

Proxiblog recently notified a member of Facebook’s Morgan Dollar Group about a problematic GSA dollar.

This was Proxiblog’s answer:

“The coin has issues on the cheek. You need to take photo of the holder. I think this coin came in a GSA holder that didn’t state ‘Uncirculated.’ I suspect it came in a holder like this below.

Here’s a closeup of the obverse, showing scuff marks:

Over the years GSA dollars have been manipulated by hobbyists. Sometimes sellers did it intentionally. Other times, they just didn’t know how to distinguish a flawed coin from an uncirculated one, based on the Mint’s paperwork and designations.

Here is a prime example.

The seller includes this COA:

Several problems here:

He is selling a 1884-CC with a certificate that begins with the numbers “83,” indicating that this COA came from an “Uncirculated” holder in an 1883-CC box. (See Proxiblog’s article, “Wrong GSA COA and Counterfeit Holders.”)
He isn’t showing or never received the U.S. Mint “Important” notice about the coin having flaws.
He is selling the flawed coin for near $600 when it should go no higher than $275 with these scuff marks on the key area of the cheek:

This is why you still need to know how to grade if buying a GSA Morgan. You can waste money on a coin like this paying MS65 prices.

Proxiblog contacted the seller:

The seller stated that he accidently switched the COAs with his other stock. And to his credit, he ended the sale.

The sale was ended because of grading knowledge. Otherwise someone else would have received this lot.

So if selling, viewing or showcasing a GSA dollar, especially on Facebook, be aware of the factors mentioned in this article.

Check the holder for the word “Uncirculated.”
Look for the GSA note (not a numbered COA) if the holder lacks the word “uncirculated,” noting the coin has flaws or unsightly toning.
Remember that the first two numbers of the COA on an uncirculated GSA dollar should match the last two numbers of the coin’s date.

Finally, be aware of Chinese counterfeit GSA dollars housed in a smooth rather than textured holder:

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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.

Buying Coins: “How’d I do?”

Posted on August 16, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

Increasingly on social media, coin buyers display their recent purchases and ask, “How did I do?” If you ask this question, you probably should not be buying expensive coins. Then again, you can learn how you did by reading this article, which takes you step by step in the buying and bidding process.

For starters, if the coin is in a top-tier slab (PCGS, NGC, ANACS, CAC, ICG), you don’t need to ask that question. Just go to the cert of the holdering company, and you will see retail, wholesale and auction prices. See this article for details.

In the past, new collectors used to learn about coin value from brick-and-mortar shop owners who also belonged to the Professional Numismatist Guild. Now the number of coin shops have declined steadily due to high overhead (rent, security, insurance, inventory) and risk of robbery. Meanwhile coin magazine subscriptions plummeted. For instance, Coin World‘s readership declined from 33.4 million in 2015 to 21.5 million in 2019. Now the magazine measures its audience digitally, with some 65,000 collectors on its social media platforms and 40,000 on its marketplace page.

As a result, collectors prefer the convenience of buying online but often are misinformed by clickbait social media.

In the past, people had buyer’s remorse when they were hoodwinked. Now many collectors do not even realize they have been scammed.

Given these risks, how should they go about buying coins?

Learn how to grade if buying raw or unholdered coins.
Buy from reputable third-party graders, especially if you don’t know how to grade.
Identify counterfeit coins masquerading in fake holders.
Know common flaws that buyers often miss.
Visit PCGS Photograde and compare your coin to grades listed there.
Before you bid on or purchase a coin, visit PCGS CoinFacts to see both retail, wholesale and auction values.
Only patronize online sellers who accept returns.

Let’s go through the above list with a coin being sold on eBay at this writing. Great Southern Coins is a reputable seller that also accepts returns:

This seller states that the coin is semi-prooflike and gem brilliant uncirculated. If you know how to grade, you might have a different opinion. It looks almost uncirculated or low mint state with flaws (scrapes, bag marks, rim dings and a pin scratch):

Now let’s go to Photograde and see what condition may match the raw coin above:

So we’re looking at an MS61 1879 Morgan. Now let’s consult PCGS CoinFacts for possible value:

Here we read about mintage and specifications:

Time to see retail and auction prices. An 1879 without flaws retails for $90 with 516 graded by PCGS at that level selling roughly at auction for about $70-100 with values seemingly rising over the years from about $50 in 2014.

But this 1879 from Great Southern Coins has flaws. What does one in a similar condition go for? CoinFacts again supplies the answer: $65.

Great Southern Coins ships inexpensively for $3.25 so I don’t have to worry about additional buyer’s fees and mailing. A good maximum bid for this coin would be $50.

If this coin were featured on HiBid or Live Auctioneers you would place a different maximum bid because sellers on those platforms often charge 15-25 percent buyer fees and $10-15 mailing. So if bidding here, your maximum would be $30 ($6 buyer fee at 20% and $14 mailing).

Here’s an example from a seller who already knows the value of the coin based on his starting $35 bid. But here you also pay $15 for shipping in addition to 15% buyer’s fee. So if you won the coin with a $35 bid, you would pay $5.25 plus $15 for a total: $55.25.

Now that you know the process, practice on eBay or HiBid/Live Auctioneers–not by bidding–but by following bidding and final sale and see if your estimate would have lost or won the coin. Do this repeatedly until you are confident in your purchasing skills.

If you like posts like this, you can read more articles on buying, selling and collecting at Proxiblog.org. Also, please subscribe so you can get our weekly newsletter and be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Family of Fake 2 Cents

Posted on August 13, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

By Jack Riley

This 1868 2 Cent piece surfaced on a Facebook group and raised eyebrows. The coin didn’t appear as a genuine struck coin and sparked a conversation on the piece, as wont to happen on the platform, with comments proclaiming “fake” and others “get it graded” and so on.

This was the conversation piece:

Before we get into specifics here, some basics. Two cent coins were produced between the years 1864 to 1873. The denomination was introduced during the Civil War to address a coin shortage and filled the gap left by other denominations being hoarded. The 1964 two-cent coin was the first to use the motto, “In God We Trust.”

Back to the issue at hand. In my internet browsing I found yet another 1868 2 Cent piece that is a pretty clear cast counterfeit. Both share a common reverse which I would call the “Notched O.” Also, there is a small lump above “cents,” highlighted in red. It is worth mentioning the leaves are disconnected but not highlighted.

What could add to this “Family” you may ask? A fantasy date 1879! The Notched O is still represented however the small lump is gone. Green arrow points to the disconnected leaf referenced earlier. This example sports a small field lump below “OF” awell.

The addition of the 1879 shows that this can and will be “mix matched” with any date. It would be of no surprise if this already exists on every date of the 2 Cent series!

If you like posts like this, you can read more articles on counterfeit coins by Jack Riley, Jack D. Young and Michael Bugeja at this URL. Also, please subscribe so you can get our weekly newsletter and be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Native American Dollar Varieties

Posted on August 9, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

Known by its distinctive golden surface and edge lettering, the Native American dollar, introduced in 2009, is a continuation of the Sacagawea dollar series, featuring her on the obverse and a different reverse design each year. There are several major varieties, featured here, and several weak/partial/missing edge and position varieties.

Let’s cover the latter first:

Position A: The edge lettering is upside down when the obverse (Sacagawea’s portrait side) is facing up.
Position B: The edge lettering is right-side up when the obverse is facing up.

Here’s an illustration:

Edge lettering is applied after the coin is struck with both positions considered normal, typically without any rarity or substantial value. However, weak/partial, missing and double edge lettering are highly desirable.

Here are illustrations:

Here are main years you want to search for along with values for gem MS65:

2009-P Native American – Pos. B Partial, $200
2009-P Native American – Pos. B Weak, $75
2009 Native American Missing Edge Lettering, $35
2010-P Native American Missing Edge Lettering, $75
2011-P Dbld Edge Let., Overlap, Pos. A, $85
2012-P Native American, Pos. A Weak Lettering, $90
2012-P Native American, Pos. B Weak Lettering, $40
2013-P Native American, Pos. B Dbld Edge Overlap, $350

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“NOT PCGS” Draped Bust $

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

By Jack D. Young

During a normal internet dumpster dive for counterfeits I spotted this listing on AliExpress–an obvious “Red Book Counterfeit”–due to the off-center bust design only used on a 1795 dated variety.

A “Red Book Counterfeit” refers to a fake coin that resembles a genuine U.S. coin as illustrated in the reference guide, “A Guide Book of United States Coins.” The Red Book serves as a comprehensive, annually updated price guide that provides detailed information on genuine U.S. coins. But counterfeiters, especially in China, use the volume as a design guide in manufacturing fakes.

As you might expect, AliExpress is owned by the Chinese company Alibaba Group, a multinational technology company that focuses on e-commerce, retail, internet, and technology (seemingly without a care about counterfeit coins).

Here is the AliExpress fake:

Past Ali listed 1796 PCGS draped bust dollar

Checking the PCGS cert number pulled this info up from their website:

PCGS on-line info for the labeled cert #

Not even close to the genuine one!

Comparison images to the genuine PCGS example for the cert #

So, considering a purchase I decided to message a question to the seller, “Lucy Coins Store,” which has been on Ali for several years. I was the first to report that this seller houses counterfeits in fake PCGS slabs!

And I sent the following note and received the following answer:

And another side note: I have purchased “coins” from the other sellers listed there and received refunds due to their being “not as described” and reported counterfeits.

I decided to purchase it and see what I would receive; and the fake did in fact look like the listed example.

Counterfeit received

Once in-hand, I started the return/ refund process through Ali; having talked with customer service there before they feign no tolerance for selling counterfeits on their venue. I was almost instantly informed my request was denied! So, I submitted another request:

A solution of “no refund” again. They called it “a new proposal.” So, I uploaded more in as much as they noted that I “rejected the solution of AliExpress”; well, yeah. …

And another rejection and so-called “solution”:

Actually, they do have a repeal process which I initiated and sent additional info:

In addition to the 2 side-by-side comparison images I sent this one trying to explain the issue!

Combination image of why this one is wrong!

And again, I was rejected; they did allow me to appeal again.

Appealed through their process

And rejected…

Best I can tell, they really didn’t care the coin is a counterfeit but that it was properly imaged in the listing.

Next step, take it to PayPal! There you can select that you received a counterfeit item and I sent all of the documents I had generated for the Ali report. Unfortunately, I received a pretty quick response that I hadn’t made my case adequately and had 3 days to add information or they would side with the seller.

So, I added some information about counterfeits, including how this bust design was only used for 1795 AND an image I had reported it through the Anti-Counterfeit Education Foundation.

And from there I waited, wondering if I would even get another response. And then:

And so, it ends with this one; it is interesting that when you click on the old sales link you get this, a similar but different counterfeit. But I am not willing to test me luck this time!

Latest Ali listing at same seller/ listing location as mine.

I realize that identifying this counterfeit took years of skill compounded by dogged persistence. Some collectors might not know how to identify fakes with die markers. But as Proxiblog’s Michael Bugeja often notes, the Chinese just can’t get the font right (nor understand how and when to use a hyphen [as in “off-center”].)

How to Sell Coins in 7 Steps

Posted on August 1, 2025 by Michael Bugeja

You may have inherited a coin collection or decided to sell some or all of your coins. It is essential to know how to sell your coins; otherwise, you could be low-balled or scammed. Follow these 7 steps, and you reduce the odds of being taken advantage of. And be sure to visit Proxiblog.org, one of the top coin sites on the internet. Subscribe and get our free weekly newsletter.

Proxiblog Coin News and Views

Numismatic posts about grading, identifying, buying, selling and bidding on coins

Author Archives: Michael Bugeja