Category Archives: Jack D. Young Reports

These post are written by expert numismatist and counterfeit detective Jack D. Young. He reports in an investigative manner on how to detect fake coins. See his posts to learn how to authenticate coins.

Top 20 Doubled Dies

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And you don’t need a microscope to see them!

Doubled dies are valuable because you can usually readily see the spread without a coin microscope. The naked eye or loupe is all you need.

You can easily go down the rabbit hole checking Wexler or Variety Vista, both of which are dedicated to die markers and varieties, along with hub doubling. There are just too many entries with obtuse markers for the beginning collector. Focus on these first so you can see what hub doubling actually looks like.

1955 Lincoln Cent (DDO-001): Top doubled die. The spread is obvious.

1958 Lincoln Cent (DDO-001): Only three known examples have been found. The spread is dramatic.

1969-S Lincoln Cent (DDO-001): Highly valuable ultra rarity with a huge spread

1972 Lincoln Cent (DDO-001):Another famous modern cent variety with a huge spread. NOTE: Go to the link to see other 1972 doubled dies. You might need a microscope to see them.

1983 Lincoln Cent (DDR-001): A huge Doubled Die Reverse on “ONE CENT” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”

1984 Lincoln Cent “Doubled Ear” (DDO-001): Another easily seen doubled die showing a distinct, secondary earlobe stamped directly below Lincoln’s normal ear.

1995 Lincoln Cent (DDO-001): A popular modern find heavily distributed into regular circulation with easily seen doubling on “LIBERTY.”

1909 VDB Lincoln Cent (DDO-001): The first year of the Lincoln cent with doubling on the date and obverse text.

1917 Lincoln Cent (DDO-001): This cent features very strong, distinctive doubling on the date and the motto.

1936 Lincoln Cent (DDO-001): Philadelphia produced three separate DDOs this year, but Type 1 is famous for its wide, bold spread on the date and legends.

1970-S Lincoln Cent “Large Date” (DDO-001): A rare San Francisco variety with strong doubling on the mottoes and date.

1916 Buffalo Nickel (DDO-001): Heavily doubled and easy to see, one of the most coveted.

1939 Jefferson Nickel (DDR-001): This rarity features easily seen doubling on “MONTICELLO” and “FIVE CENTS.”

1934 Washington Quarter (DDO-001): Features prominent doubling on the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST.”

1937 Washington Quarter (DDO-001): Similar to the 1934 variety, displaying heavy doubling across the obverse lettering.

1942-D Washington Quarter (DD)-001): Another easily seen with the naked eye or a loupe.

1943 Washington Quarter (DDO-001): A dramatic wartime variety with easily seen doubling on the date and liberty devices.

1943-S Washington Quarter (DDO-001): Another easily seen doubled die on obverse mottos.

NOTE: There are many VAM-related Morgan dollar doubled dies, several with easily seen varieties. Here are two of the most pronounced.

1888-O VAM 4 “Hot Lips”): A double lip easily seen with the naked eye.

1901 VAM 3 “Shifted Eagle”: The “shift” in the eagle is concerns doubling below the tail feathers.

There are only a scant few valuable doubled dies that require a coin microscope. I’ll include one. Minor, not very valuable:

1997 1C FS-101, Doubled Ear: The earlobe is tiny and needs magnification.

Veteran hobbyists forget that beginning collectors typically do not know VAMs for Morgan and Peace dollars and also for minor doubled dies–Wexler and Variety Vista is full of them.

Wexler has 8 different classes! You have to like carrots to go down these bunny holes.

Variety Vista is no better.

Veteran hobbyists, especially on Facebook and social media, should remember that beginners do not know how to navigate those rabbit holds and think everything is a valuable doubled die. Few beginners and even long-time hobbyists may not know VAMs, obscure types of doubled dies (Classes I-IX), and common mint errors.

Keep it simple, as this article does.

If you are a collector of varieties and doubled dies, be sure to see our directory that features denominations that carry unique PCGS numbers. Articles there, too.

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 other 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.

Proxiblog and Jack’s Counterfeit Corner

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By Jack D. Young

Today’s feature subject- the Trifecta all over again; counterfeit 1882-CC Morgan $, counterfeit PCGS slab, and counterfeit PCGS CN “authentication” website.

This article documents what is happening to our hobby. It is important for every collector to know what is happening on eBay and other venues with counterfeit coins, slabs and websites.

I wrote an article on a similar issue at the beginning of the year; the subject was important enough to cross several forums including Coin Week, Coin World and Proxiblog : Trifecta, CN Counterfeit Coin, Slab and Website | Proxiblog Coin News and Views .

We also discussed it on the weekly “Live Coin Q&A” podcast on Thursday June 18. ❓What the Heck are EBay Sellers Doing Now? + New Discovery!

So, let’s start with the current one. I notified PCGS about this 1882-CC Morgan. As I have noted previously I use eBay for new material to write counterfeit articles on, and eBay apparently remembers me and my dumpster dive searches! The following is one page of a series of “inspiring” Bay offerings that came up the other day:

So the 1882-CC looked different and I thought worth taking a deeper dive on (notice the similar looking 1880-CC to the right as well). The original listing:

I have seen many odd listings on the Bay, but this one is notable. Starting with not-PCGS label the nomenclature seems bizarre; I have never seen a genuine one with the word “America” on it, making me think of others with “Morgan” on the label! And I had no clue what the “LM” and “Y” designations stands for; turns out they are attributions for Chinese coins!

The barcode doesn’t scan, the cert number doesn’t exist in the true PCGS database, and the gold shield looks like a child’s coloring book effort.

The seller shows front and back images and then a raw one on a scale while stating “With NFC C” for whatever that is supposed to mean.

And an old friend, “slash” the eagle! And where do you suppose the scale came from?

So bad cert #:

So, what about the reverse QR code? With that many “cn’s” in the address where do you suppose it will lead?

So a note for reference- the site we exposed at the beginning of the year was entirely different and was taken down quickly after notifying my contacts at PCGS and reporting on Proxiblog:

And the new site and images:

And like the previous site there is a “TrueView” type image to aid with authentication…

A little pricy to me at the time as I had 2 others going through the eBay refund/ return process then. Interestingly, both of them were reported through the Bay AI reporting process and came back AOK, but when I posted each on my Face Book sites and stated I bought one, they suddenly were removed along with the sellers…

So I reported this one and the bogus site to my contacts at PCGS and then posted on my personal FB page:

And poof, both the seller and listing were removed from the Bay…

From my post one can see there are Chinese coins included, as I went through the effort to find other ‘coins” on the site. Many CC Morgans and even more CN coins including this example:

Notice the cert #, 66259150 and the subject example, 66259979- each cert # in-between these shows another counterfeit. It goes on and on…

And an image of the ones I screen printed:

Saved images from the bad website

A true nightmare IMHO.

And the story continues, as after the subject listing and seller “disappeared”, more showed up to the party.

2 new sellers with the same appearing stuff, they now state “with grading box”.

I looked at the 1880-CC, and it matched the website examples but decided to purchase the 1882-CC.

And what about seller feedback? WOW, I didn’t know there was even such a thing as counterfeit perfume😎!

Yep, I took the chance of submitting feedback before receiving the item, so we will see how that worked for me.

And I did also report the 1880-CC, but both of these and the website are still up.

And eBay’s responses to both reports:

eBay’s report response states made by a “customer service agent” in both cases!

And the 1882-CC seller’s response to my feedback? Well, like another seller he cancelled my order stating I requested the cancellation.

And he added to the negative feedback chain and asked I contact them “directly to discuss”:

And an interesting anecdote, Paula Bluhm found a Chinese coin with the variety nomenclature used on this “Morgan” counterfeit! (Maybe a viewer can help with the Y and LM designations.)

I actually tried to purchase another one from the same seller, but he cancelled it after I paid for it; I was refunded by eBay.

And a 6-18 update- more sellers of these counterfeits hit the Bay, and they must have read my negative feedback and now obstruct the reverse QR code!

I purchased an 1880-CC, so we will see what I receive.

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 be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and across social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

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.

AI Gone Wild: “It Takes the Glare off” Coin Images!

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By Jack D. Young for Proxiblog

A couple of my current sayings–“Only on the Bay” and “You can’t make this stuff up”–certainly apply to this article.

A good friend and half cent expert sent me a PM with a current eBay half cent link and asked if I saw what he did–pure gibberish in the words and lettering, especially on the reverse.

Reverse 1811 listing image

Wow, is UNITED supposed to look like “EI-EI O”? Kind of reminds me of the recent “Liberty Biberty” insurance commercials! 😎

So, digging further I found the seller had multiple similar imaged listings including this 1884-S Morgan Dollar.

I noticed with this one that the barcode on this “enhanced” image doesn’t scan, and STATES is actually spelled “STATEA”…

Looking up the actual cert number pulled up PCGS TrueView images of the actual coin for this cert.

Subject image on the left, TrueView image on the right

So, not only are the letters misrepresented but some of the nicks and marks of the genuine coin are also smoothed out. Even the “4” is now different!

So I sent a message to the seller, and we had a back and forth that abruptly ended:

And he let the auctions run… I then sent a note to my eBay contacts:

During this research Michael Bugeja and I discussed this situation and the possible implications. He asked AI about AI and received this response:

Sounds like what we are seeing in this seller’s images! And another of his listing’s images:

And Michael’s conversation with the seller and the bottom-line concern. (Read text from bottom up.)

So, crickets from the seller after these exchanges and the listings stayed active. BUT reviewing again after a few days May ALL of the listings were suddenly ended. Maybe eBay actually had a hand in this; it will be interesting to see any relists by this seller in the future!

And a little different spin on the topic: When reviewing eBay listings in my spare time I do see some where a “bad” listing uses exactly the same description as a “good” one.

I assumed the seller just conveniently grabbed the genuine description for use in his listing, but that may not always be the case.

I actually questioned the following seller about his (joke) listing and he responded as follows; I was glad to hear it “passed the ice test” 😎!

I actually wasn’t negative. Then he suddenly ended the listing. Go figure.

It is rather ironic in my opinion his listing was noted as “sponsored” by the Bay. No doubt the sponsorship was via algorithm, maybe a prelude to just how bad that venue can get.

So maybe AI has its place, but I vote to keep it out of my hobby.

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 be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and across social media. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

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.

eBay Counterfeit Scams

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By Jack D. Young

Come on eBay! You can do better than this!

Several friends notified me of an obvious scam on eBay recently involving a PCGS certified 1882-CC image used by multiple sellers (showing the same origin location) listed for sale at a bargain price.

Past auction listing- I added seller’s reverse image to this

I have written previous articles on these “bait and switch” tactics by MANY eBay sellers using genuine coin images (to help fool artificial intelligence, which needs little help to do currently) to sell counterfeit coins. I have actually purchased a couple in the past just to see what a buyer would get and reported them and received my purchase price back.

So, a couple of bad signs with this listing:

Image of a genuine PCGGS certed example; PCGS shows a value of $450.00.

Listed price $39.99 with 2 sold and more than 10 available.

And the seller’s feedback notes:

Well, at least they show eBay “Verified purchases”!

And while I was reviewing this one 5 other listings with the same stock images but different sellers popped up; I started saving images and organizing my files:

From this I put a note together and sent a message to eBay alerting them about this scam and reported the subject listing.

Note to eBay

I reported them all through the feeble AI reporting process with all coming back as no policy violations including the subject example.

And so I decided to buy this one and see what I would receive.

And I received a typical CN counterfeit CC Morgan with the slashed eagle reverse!

I emailed the seller with no response; looks like he packed up his “shop,” and nothing now listed.

And going back to check the listing and follow-up I find eBay now removed the listing! It did allow me to request a return and leave appropriate feedback for the seller.

Now 3 negative feedbacks for the counterfeit bait and switch!

So we’ll see where this goes from here, as eBay stated they will step in if requested May 1. Pretty sure I won’t hear back from the seller by then.

And he apparently sold MANY of these through several different seller IDs right under eBay’s nose.

And continued reviewing turned up the genuine example and seller the scammers used for their listings:

So, come on eBay! You can do better than this.

We can do better, too, as hobbyists by learning how to identify fakes.

If you like posts like this, please go to our counterfeit archive with reports from Jack Riley, Jack D. Young, John Lorenzo and Michael Bugeja. Also, please 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 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.

Counterfeit Franklin Half Dollars (Missing FS)

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By Jack Riley

A recent surface of counterfeit Franklin Half Dollars has hit the numismatic community. The subject coin was shared in a large open Facebook group and was quickly identified as a modern counterfeit.

Comparing this example to others I have saved shows three dates sharing a common obverse (and reverse). Reverse markers aren’t indicated due to the obverse being interchanged with various mints including Denver and San Francisco.

Repeated markers highlighted in red include:

  • Missing FS initials
  • Reacting circulation marks on the lower bust
  • High “19” in the date

Consider this last photo and aforementioned summary. That’s how closely you have to inspect raw coins being sold online. China is flooding the market with fakes and fakes within fakes (counterfeit coins in counterfeit PCGS holders).

Proxiblog is proud to be at the forefront of exposing these scammers.

If you like posts like this, please 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 commentaries, click here.

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.

Bad 1923 $20 gold and not-PCGS slab

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By Jack D. Young for Proxiblog

So, how bad has it been on the Bay? I asked that question in a Facebook group and the majority stated it has become worse for counterfeits. This article demonstrates how.

And a recent painful experience follows. As a counterfeit researcher and article writer I review many different sites and forums for new examples. One is AliExpress and the many offerings of fake coins in fake “PCGS” holders such as the following:

I just added this one to my files and waited. … And then this recent eBay listing popped up in my daily review:

OK, so the seller actually used the Ali images for his listing!

He also included images of what I assume he actually had in-hand, and both are bad.

Interestingly, both sets of images have the same bad obverse label and no-read barcode, but the reverse QR codes were different.

The Ali one and images used have a reverse QR code that takes one to the Chinese (CN) PCGS site as typical for that generation of fake in a fake, but his one in-hand leads to the Europe PCGS site as I disclosed in a recent article on these–a latest development!

And another surprise, the listing was reported to eBay and was removed. Seller was also notified that his coin was bad. He responded but allowed his listing to continue:

eBay seller’s response to my message

Instead, he relisted, this time without the Ali images.

Sellers relist after 1st was removed

Again multiple reports apparently resulted in the listing being removed.

So, then a 3rd try by this determined seller.

2nd relist

An entirely different set of images and setting, but same bad coin and not-PCGS slab and cert number. And the same nonsense obverse barcode with the reverse QR code taking us to France!

Revised images of the same counterfeit and 3rd seller Bay listing

And the “coin” itself? Not the same as the certified genuine example:

eBay subject example on the left, genuine PCGS example for the cert # on the right

And the disappointing twist–eBay would NOT remove this 3rd attempt after multiple reports.

And I guess I got a little testy after it showed sold:

Interestingly after this report the listing was removed, but no way to know if it saved the buyer. I suppose we just need to wait until the seller relists.

If you like posts like this, please 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 commentaries, click here.

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.

Bad Coin Rolls and Documented Bay Seller

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Jack D. Young for Proxiblog

So I previously wrote a Coin Week article on attributing a counterfeit 1893-O Morgan Dollar and noted the high bad feedback eBay seller:

Counterfeit 1893-O Morgan Dollar: A Diagnostic Case Study

That same seller also sold 2 mixed rolls of small cents faced with an apparent 1857 Flying Eagle cent to a Face Book friend; it turned out the FE is a known counterfeit, and the new owner posted them and the link to my Coin Week article about them!

The OP noted the counterfeit “tells” for this style counterfeit on his example (circled in red) referencing the Coin Week article attributions.

Bottom image of the OP’s FB post on the subject

Image from the referenced Coin Week article showing other examples with the matching marks:

Counterfeit 1857 Flying Eagle Cents You Should Avoid | CoinWeek

While reviewing the article for images (I often go back to my own published article for reference while researcher subject “coins”!) I noticed the OP had posted a comment which I responded to.

So, purchased in 2023 and now aware as a result of the article! Ironically the article was published in 2023 as well…

Comments from the subject Coin Week article

2023 and the seller is still “at large” 😎! I immediately found another listing from him for a similar roll, documented his images and then worked to “win” the auction.

Recent identical eBay roll listing- I won!

So all I had to do was wait for this to be delivered. I was already planning how to document what it is once in-hand, taking images as I worked to uncover the detail I thought would match my friends, but that turned to be too easy a thought…

I was initially pretty confident I would see the “Bad T” in UNITED, but that documented attribution point wasn’t there!

Image from my microscope of my FE in the roll

OK, so what, did the seller actually slip a genuine example in the roll? My plan was failing so I just carefully unwrapped the whole roll and then imaged the contents:

And the FE? 1st thing of note is he is using repeated stock images; mine was positioned differently relative to the roll:

Listing image of the roll on the left, received on the right- date not apparent

And once removed from the roll I immediately recognized it after digging through my article:

Coin received is actually the 2nd counterfeit documented in the article, as noted:
Additional article images

So, now again confident he slipped a counterfeit into the roll I decided to send him a message. My previous attempts on the 1893-O Morgan failed because he doesn’t accept messages but apparently does when a current purchased item is linked.

Yeah, right. … But he did immediately refund my purchase price without involving eBay- a surprise for sure given all of his past responses to negative feedback given.

And he then listed another one, but I found I am now banned by him for any future listings.

Keeping it real, Jack.

If you like posts like this, please 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 commentaries, click here.

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.

eBay Seller’s comments to “Your Baby’s Ugly”

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By Jack D. Young

Proxiblog asked me to consider doing an article on “how eBay sellers react when we report their coins as fake? I know some take down the lots. Others don’t.” I was intrigued by the thought and decided to write the following!

When I explain a Bay listing is counterfeit sellers can react a number of ways–in disbelieve, argumentatively (Grandpa owned it), accepting and thankful, combative (I’ll meet you in a parking lot dude…) or just “crickets.”. In my experience the larger the seller the higher the probability of crickets.

So, moving on I will not lower our standards here and report the combative ones but several of recent experiences I have had of the other types of reactions.

Let’s start with an interesting Trade dollar. This example just caught my eye, and the images led me to believe the coin was not genuine. The images in the listing were not definitive, and I asked the seller for better ones. He agreed and that was all it took! The common reverse used for a family of fakes I nicknamed the “notched R.” I wrote an article on these published in a recent LSCC Gobrecht Journal. I actually own one returned to a seller by NGC as counterfeit, so well versed on these:

eBay recent listing

So, I asked the seller about the coin and that I had concerns about its authenticity. He responded that he looked up the cert and the “PCGS verification”.

I responded there were no images on the on-line cert, so no help there. I included images from my coin and article and that I was sure it was counterfeit.

And he responded with a thank you and that he would remove the listing immediately, which he did!

So, a win, except who knows were the coin ends up, as he responded he is taking it back to the previous seller… And then another listing and another message:

Seller actually had two bad Morgans in fake PCGS slabs listed:

As he stated in his message, he ended both!

So, two with likely the best results we could hope for. And then this one:

Another counterfeit coin in a counterfeit slab, this one gets a little complicated if you really evaluate this one properly.

First, the obverse barcode scans as a 1989 $10 gold eagle. Then, the images of the genuine example for the cert# on the PCGS site are a completely different coin. And third, the interesting twist for this one is fakes of this type typically have a reverse QR code that scans to the genuine PCGS cert site in CHINA (cnpcgs), BUT this one scans to pcgseurope! A separate article on this one in the works.

So, I notified the owner, but he is in denial, and his response and then silence:

Silent until this😎:

So, good luck to all eBayer’s with that one!

And now the crickets; my friend Jack Riley posted the next example in our Face Book group:

Pretty bad counterfeit in a counterfeit slab again, the surprise was it is a large well respected Bay coin seller. Several of us sent messages to the seller with no response, so I took a risk and purchased it with the intention of asking for a return for it being a counterfeit.

Refund granted, never heard from the seller…

And eBay removed the listing:

Shortly thereafter my eBay account was permanently suspended.

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 be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other venues. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

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.

Fake Eisenhower Dollars

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By Jack Riley

As most collectors know, Chinese counterfeits have flooded the market. Often many buyers are “burned” on key date and semi key date coins of many series. We have stressed that nothing is safe and that includes Eisenhower Dollars! These are readily available at banks for face value and yet here we have counterfeits.

Diving straight into repeating markers of these two “coins,” a 1971-P and 1977-P show commonalities between the two. Both share matching obverses and reverses indicated in Red.

Obverse markers:

  • Diagonal depression of L
  • Depression in front of the eye

Reverse markers:

  • Raised lump below A1
  • Indent below OF
  • Line through C

China produces counterfeits of common coins like the Eisenhower dollar if a small profit can be made. These scammers may not be expert numismatists; but they are professional marketers who know about profit margins. Their profits expand with bulk production, flooding eBay and Facebook with fakes. China knows the coin collectors will just assume that low-value common coins like Ike dollars are genuine.

They are polluting the hobby.

If you suspect that one of your coins might be fake, see “Detecting Counterfeits” for methods.

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.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other venues. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

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.

Fake CC and P mint Double Eagles

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By Jack Riley

Counterfeiters aren’t numismatists. They often use incorrect design types that are impossible for a given coin and do not understand how third party grading services holder the coins they certify. This example may take the cake! A counterfeit 1892-CC $20 Gold piece in a fake PCGS holder. Not just any holder, a holder pedigreed to D.L. Hansen!

Let’s view the counterfeit example compared to the genuine one below that from Hansen’s collection.

When you compare the two, it is very clear that they are not the same coin. One can see the CC position is incorrect along with a large lump on the ribbon.

The “Family” is likely very extensive and many dates have been noted sharing this common reverse. Additional images shared below are from an 1891-CC coin as well as an 1893-CC. These were recently shared to a large Facebook group where they got mixed reviews.

Now to the connection between the common reverses. This 1882-CC shares the “common reverse.” The obverse is very distinct as well for this date. The 1882 date was interchanged with both P and CC mint reverses. Noteworthy: the surface lump above Liberty’s head, spike protruding from the bridge of the nose, and a raised line under the date.

Interesting occurrence with the Philadelphia reverse is that it was later tooled to repair the denticles. The first two images show a depression along with the deformation of the denticles at approximately K12.

The next two images show the deformed denticles but no indentation within them.

“Common” P reverse

Closeup images of markers include:

  • Deformed Denticles with a depression, later was repaired
  • Spike through “C”
  • Small field dot above “T”

“Common” CC reverse

Closeup image of repeating marks include:

  • CC centered above denomination
  • Small chip above “DOLLARS”

If you purchase a counterfeit coin, especially one as expensive as a $20 gold one, contact the seller for a refund. If the seller refuses to accept a return for a counterfeit coin, immediately initiate a dispute with the payment platform (eBay, PayPal, or credit card company) for an “item not as described,” as counterfeit items are illegal to sell. Document the fraud with professional authentication, and if necessary, report the seller to the U.S. Secret Service or local law enforcement.

If a dispute cannot be resolved, and you report the fraud to the U.S. Secret Service, you may be required to turn the coin over to authorities. In any case, never attempt to re-sell the coin, even if you disclose that it is a counterfeit.

If you like posts like this, you can read more articles on counterfeit coins by Jack D. Young, Jack Riley, John Lorenzo 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.

Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups, YouTube and other venues. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

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.