4 ms·

Is forgery ever an issue?

nlh 3y ago
Yes! There are quite a few fakes (both coins and currency) floating out there. Some of the best fakes are gold coins that - and you might find this surprising - are actually made out of gold. The reason is that at various times through mid/late 1900s, many countries forbade the export of gold while the US allowed for imports of our own coinage. So a crafty smuggler who wants to get their gold out of, say, the middle east and into the US would have the gold minted into fake US coins so as to bypass the export/import restrictions. Real gold, fake coins. Kinda wild. Anyway, coin and paper money nerds are quite good at identifying fakes - there are specific die marks, casting marks, etc. that allow a trained eye to identify a counterfeit pretty easily. This is combatted with a combination of experience and the 3rd-party certification companies which encapsulate coins and paper money along with a genuine guarantee (and they will pay you for the item if it's discovered to be counterfeit at any time). It's an issue for some types of coins more than others, but with experience it's usually possible to identify counterfeits.
- herewulf 3y ago
  That's fascinating. In a way a gold smuggled coin like that seems more rare than the genuine article? That would have an effect of its own on the value? Or maybe the problem is such coins are impossible to identify with certainty because they weren't made by an "official" mint?
  - nlh 3y ago
    There are definitely people who collect fakes/smuggled coins, but because they have the stench of counterfeit on them, their appeal is limited. However - there is one super notable example. In the mid-1900s a guy who became known as the "Omega Man" made counterfeits of the famous 1907 High Relif $20 Gold Coin that were SO good that for many years many of them were certified and bought and sold as genuine. Like many craftsmen of his ilk, the Omega Man couldn't resist leaving a calling card on his (gold) fakes, and it was eventually discovered. Those are outright collectible today for more than their gold value. Some details: https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/10583/omega-counterfeit/ https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/10583/omega-counterfeit...

nlh 3y ago

Yes! There are quite a few fakes (both coins and currency) floating out there. Some of the best fakes are gold coins that - and you might find this surprising - are actually made out of gold. The reason is that at various times through mid/late 1900s, many countries forbade the export of gold while the US allowed for imports of our own coinage. So a crafty smuggler who wants to get their gold out of, say, the middle east and into the US would have the gold minted into fake US coins so as to bypass the export/import restrictions. Real gold, fake coins. Kinda wild. Anyway, coin and paper money nerds are quite good at identifying fakes - there are specific die marks, casting marks, etc. that allow a trained eye to identify a counterfeit pretty easily. This is combatted with a combination of experience and the 3rd-party certification companies which encapsulate coins and paper money along with a genuine guarantee (and they will pay you for the item if it's discovered to be counterfeit at any time). It's an issue for some types of coins more than others, but with experience it's usually possible to identify counterfeits.

herewulf 3y ago
That's fascinating. In a way a gold smuggled coin like that seems more rare than the genuine article? That would have an effect of its own on the value? Or maybe the problem is such coins are impossible to identify with certainty because they weren't made by an "official" mint?
- nlh 3y ago
  There are definitely people who collect fakes/smuggled coins, but because they have the stench of counterfeit on them, their appeal is limited. However - there is one super notable example. In the mid-1900s a guy who became known as the "Omega Man" made counterfeits of the famous 1907 High Relif $20 Gold Coin that were SO good that for many years many of them were certified and bought and sold as genuine. Like many craftsmen of his ilk, the Omega Man couldn't resist leaving a calling card on his (gold) fakes, and it was eventually discovered. Those are outright collectible today for more than their gold value. Some details: https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/10583/omega-counterfeit/ https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/10583/omega-counterfeit...