Etsy, a major seller of coins, has house rules that prohibit fakes, and yet is one of the major distributors of counterfeits and replicas. That, in itself, is not the problem. Scam sellers on Facebook coin sites and online auctions purchase these replicas and then try to pass them off as authentic, hoping to bait new hobbyists who do not know any better.
Here’s an example:
Proxiblog catalogued keydate replicas and is sharing them here. Bookmark the URL and share this post whenever you see someone trying to pass off these items as genuine.
Proxiblog identifies these replicas every day across Facebook coin groups–to the extent that he regularly warns against sellers and scammers who claim these are genuine. Here’s a screenshot of a recent example:
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 and 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.
The 1942/1 and 1942/1-D Mercury dimes are among the most desired dates of the series, with the overdates visible with the naked eye or a loupe. Both dimes, however, are frequently counterfeited or altered. So it is important to note the diagnostics explained in this article.
1942/1
The 1942/1 Mercury dime is one of the most popular overdates in U.S. coinage. Better still, this Philadelphia date has a huge mintage of 205,410,000, with estimates as high as 4,000 overdates surviving and making their way into commerce, rolls and bank bags.
The overdate is obvious, especially in higher grades, as this PCGS CoinFacts photo demonstrates:
This error occurred when the 1941 die was impressed by a 1942-dated hub.
Retail values in Good 6-8 average about $300, rising to$500+ in Very Fine and $1,000+ in Almost Uncirculated. In low mint state, the dime sells for between $3,000-$5,000. The overdate is a condition rarity in higher mint state grades.
Altered coins are plentiful, especially by adding a “1” to the “2,” as in this example, compliments of NGC:
1942/1-D
Like its 1942/1 sister, the Denver overdate is not an ultra rarity, with 3,200 believed to have survived out of a mintage of 60,740,000.
If you are inspecting a lower mint state example, you will need a loupe or coin microscope to identify the overdate. Look at the left top and bottom of the two for telltale signs of the “1.”
Retail prices for dimes in Good to Fine sell for around $300, rising above $500 in Very Fine to Extra Fine. In Almost Uncirculated, specimens sell for $1,000+. Again like its sister 1942/1 dime, mint state examples sell in the thousands and are considered condition rarities.
Be on the lookout for the same type of altered date as in the 1942/1 example mentioned earlier. But an even greater concern involves fake tokens cast from genuine coins. You can buy these tokens for under $20 on Etsy.
The risk here is not only buying from Etsy but buying an Etsy token billed as genuine and sold on popular venues such as eBay.
Also when on the Bay, don’t be fooled by worn 1942 dimes being billed as 1942/1 varieties. Here’s an example with no overdate:
Because of the prevalence of counterfeit, cast, altered and misidentified 1942/1 dimes, do not bid on or buy raw overdate coins from online sellers. In this case, buy the holder, not the coin, from PCGS, NCG, ANACS and CAC.
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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 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.
In my normal dumpster diving on the internet I ran into a rather nasty counterfeit on Etsy.
Just looked off to my “fake” eye, I started my usual due diligence starting with the PCGS cert look up. The image of the genuine one does NOT match which then lead me to the slab and inserts themselves.
Etsy listed example on the left, Genuine certed example on the right
PCGS on-line cert with image
Bar code scans of the Etsy example- as usual the front barcode read an entirely different cert #. In fact it doesn’t even exist in the PCGS on-line data base!
And the reverse–typical read for these fake holders, the QR code scans as the correct Cert number but for the “CN” (Chinese) PCGS site!
On-line bar code reader image of the reverse QR code
So, I sent the seller a note; that went well.
Back and forth messages with the seller
So now what? Well I remembered that “Report this item to Etsy” link on the listing and took that approach.
Reported through their process
Really no way to know if this would get any interest at Etsy. I waited and continued to check the site for this item and seller. But the seller appeared to just add more bad items to his listings.
Only $599.99 for the Walton 1913 Liberty nickel!!! But I also noticed he now started to hide the cert number with his new 1883-CC listing.
OK, let’s try this again.
Reporting process for Etsy
Just a note, “Counterfeit” is a reportable violation on Etsy unlike AliExpress!
And another report through their process
At this point I decided to let PCGS know about these. I contacted my contact there as well as posted on their CU Forum. Like many of my posts there I don’t appear to get much traction although someone did alert the Mod there to my post.
My post on PCGS’ CU Forum
I also notified some friends involved in counterfeit reporting as well, and then waited. I even considered purchasing one of these to see what I actually would receive, had it in my cart but couldn’t pull the trigger. Didn’t want to aid the seller with no assurance I would get my price of admission back…
I did take another shot at reporting through Etsy on his bad Trade Dollar.
Bad Trade form the same seller; now he tried to partially block “PCGS”
Waiting, checking and then this!
Really? Success? And how or why may always escape me but the seller is GONE. I looked up my saved links for his bad wares and all are now gone.
So, I tried to message the seller, and guess what? He’s GONE as well; hopefully in a cell block somewhere!
Persistence or stubbornness? Not sure, but I’ll keep on keeping on as the Beatles said “with a little help from my Friends”!
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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.
For years expert hobbyists and coin dealers were used to giving the non-collector or amateur the bad news about their face- or low-value coins. They would check the Greysheet or Red Book for values and show the person or customer the true worth of their lots.
Rarely would people argue when given the bad news.
But now, in the digital era, content creators and sellers on eBay, TikTok, Etsy and more have hyped common face value coins to such extent that non-collectors scoff at or even argue when told the real value of their so-called errors or faux varieties.
Facebook top contributors say the same things each day: No value. Face value. Buy a Red Book. Or worse, give a snarky reply because, simply, they are exhausted answering the same questions about value.
And here is the kicker: The value of the hobby is the hobby, not the value. Non-collectors on social media are all about the value.
TikTok Click Bait
Videos like this are immensely misleading, showcasing a mule dime/cent as if we can find one in pocket change. You’d have better odds with lighting striking you twice.
All of these thousand-dollar “best offer” coins either have face value, damage, or cuds.
Etsy Exaggerations
Here are three sample scam listings. One has a filled mint mark, another an uncirculated modern S mint mark cent, and another a few grams of weight above 3.11 for the denomination.
Folks who think they have struck it rich should check the “sold” and “Buy It Now” listings for such coins. Let’s just do that for the eBay listings above:
Non-collectors elevating worth over hobby should do the same process as I did above to learn the true value (or face value) of their misleading strike-it-rich coins.
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Proxiblog also has hundreds of followers on Facebook Coin Groups. 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.
The 1937-D 3-legged nickel is one of the most desired and valuable coins in the series. It is also one of the most faked coins in numismatics. All of the inexpensive Etsy coins above are fake. Telling the difference is easy, and it has nothing to do with the leg but with the motto “E Pluribus Unum.”
The missing leg is a variety. Here’s what happened: A new mint employee was being pressured to produce more coins. The coin feeder that sends blank planchets to the press jammed. That caused the two dies to clash, severing the front leg.
Scammers soon realized how easy it was to shave off part of the front leg on a regular 1937-D. But the diagnostics differ between the two types.
A member of a Facebook coin identification group bought this coin for $35 at a pawn shop. He wondered whether he scored a 3-legged nickel. He did not.
To tell the difference, do not look at the leg. If the motto “E Pluribus Unum” touches the back of the buffalo on the reverse, it is a fake. Here’s an illustration:
Here are other diagnostics:
Look at the 4th Leg, which should be weak in genuine coins. Also look for that famous “raised arc,” a polite way to say “buffalo urinating.” Compare the size of devices about “Five”; they are smaller and more defined than what you find in reproductions.
You can see the same wrong sized devices in Etsy reproductions, which eBay scammers purchase and then sell them as genuine.
Only about 20,000 genuine 3-legged nickels exist. It is extremely difficult to find one in pocket change, coin shop or pawn store. But now that you know how to tell the difference, no one can scam you about this desired Mint error.
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Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and other venues. 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.
Increasingly on Facebook coin groups, members are posting fake Chinese counterfeits of rare U.S. coins, asking for a value. This post gives you strategies to identify such fakes.
We will start with the heavily faked 1800 silver dollar above, and show you the steps to take to find counterfeits. The process is the same for any date and mint mark.
Some quick tips before methods: Don’t buy coins from Etsy (too many fakes sold 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.'”
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Proxiblog also has hundreds of followers on Facebook Coin Groups. 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.
I am a member of several Facebook coin groups, especially ones dedicated to identifying coins, and am startled at how many fakes are on these platforms. More experienced collectors see these coins (all fake above) so many times that they get irked, not only because counterfeits are ruining the hobby, but because posters making inquiries think they have rare coins worth thousands.
Often, more experienced collectors just comment, “Fake,” without explaining why. They should at least cite a few factors, such as “plated,” “China counterfeit,” “Etsy fake,” etc. Others reading comments also learn from experienced collectors. .
There are reasons many such group members refrain from giving detailed information, or worse, answer in a snarky manner. First of all, counterfeit detection requires experience, skill and research. You can find many such sites on the internet. Here’s one by NGC: Counterfeit detection. But a second reason concerns that people posting photos of fake coins aren’t really interested in the hobby. They just want a value, and when told their coins are fake, resist and trigger more rude comments.
That taints the entire group.
So here are SIMPLE ways you can detect a counterfeit. Let’s start with coins in fake PCGS holders:
The Chinese also have a difficult time with fonts.
Another issue with Chinese fakes concerns whether they use the correct reverse. For instance, this coin purports to be an 1889-CC Morgan, a valuable coin. But it should have a rounded breast on the eagle and slanted top feather.
Go to PCGS CoinFacts or another comprehensive site (or Red Book) and look up the year, mint mark and denomination of your coin. Recently a Facebook member asked about the value of an 1846-CC dollar. If you look that year up, you won’t find anything. The Carson City mint started producing coins in 1870.
When you can’t find the year/mint mark in these guides, you have a counterfeit.
When you do identify your coin, look at two measurements: diameter and weight.
You can also test for silver by simply using your ear. It’s called “The Ping Test,” which distinguishes between silver and base metal. Train your ear. Here’s a YouTube video on how to do the test:
Also, many ancient coins are replicas (museum, souvenir pieces) or counterfeits. I just posted about fake shekels of Tyre, a much sought after coin, because it is believed Judas Iscariot received this in the 30 pieces of silver story in the Bible.
Knowing die markers for rarities, which are often faked, is essential when purchasing or commenting online. Proxiblog has expert counterfeit contributors who regularly use die markers not only to identify authentic coins but also fake ones. Here are some of their articles:
Once again, this counterfeit family reminds me to advise newer collectors to follow these general guidelines:
If you are ready to bid hundreds of dollars on a coin, resist buying a raw one and shop for one holdered by PCGS, NGC, ANACS and CAC.
Be especially careful when purchasing raw coins from eBay and other online venues. TAI bots cannot detect counterfeits, so you are on your own.
Make sure the seller takes returns and has good reviews. Also, the number of positive reviews is a good indicator. If someone has 0 sales or even fewer than 100, do not take a chance.
Weigh the coin and go to PCGS CoinFacts for the date and mintmark, checking your coin against weights and dimensions.
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If you are ready to bid hundreds of dollars on a coin, resist buying a raw one and shop for one holdered by PCGS, NGC, ANACS and CAC.
Proxiblog also has thousands of followers on Facebook Coin Groups and other social media venues. 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.
