wybrit

Wrong die #, and the B altered to a D is pretty obvious. The date is altered as well. Link

If it was MS65, it was not one of the two major American grading companies that slabbed it. PCGS only has one - AU55BN NGC has 4: one each at XF40, AU58BN, MS62BN and MS63BN

Well Colin, you suckered me to look! Of course, if you had been the first to spot a real one, you would be showing us that in the coin acquisition thread.

Hi Wybrit Have you a link for the counterfeiting? Thanks Hi Peter, no, unfortunately. The coins in question were sold on ebay first by UK sellers as copies (at least they didn't mislead). Pretty soon they migrated over to other sellers, including in the US, many times ignorantly portrayed as real. I have not seen any offered in a while, but the dates that have been faked are 1848, 1851 and, of course, 1860. All of them were obvious fakes, luckily.

There are some real bad apples in coin collecting, but there are also a lot of upstanding coin sellers. I would trust many of the contributors over on the CU forum to sell me a good coin - and they have. The same thing applies to the mainstream dealers on your side of the pond - I have found many a coin from many different places in the UK, both via internet sales and in person.

I would say the answer to the question is "it is inevitable." The Chinese and greater east Asian cultures excel at continuous process improvement, and coin forgery (and slab forgery, for that matter) will only get better - especially when the government there does little or nothing about it. The recent rash and subsequent prolifertion of fake copper Victorian halfpennies with scarce and rare dates (all with the exact same worn reverse) should be a warning to everyone.

Thanks for your comments. I've looked at my Obv 11 1875 halfpenny and the 1874H in this posting and I'm not convinced that the 1874 is Obv 11. The features of the '74H and '74 are so close but the 1875 is different. Perhaps you can take the pictures and draw where you see the distinctions.

I don't have the coin in hand now (in safekeeping), but I checked it out under a 30X scope view and saw nothing suspicious about that area.

Thanks folks! Nice overlay Gary.

The first coin is slabbed (NGC), so the rim is partially encased.

Comparison #2: 1874 Halfpenny, 9 + I

Comparison #1: 1874H Halfpenny (10 + J)

I recently purchased an 1874 (no H) halfpenny and, comparing it to my 1874H halfpenny (Freeman 10+J), see exactly the same obverse and virtually the same reverse. There is absolutely no sign of H removal on the coin, even under 30X microscope. The 1874 obverse can not be 7, does not appear to be 8 (which is similar to 4) and is different from 9. Please review and comment. 1874 Halfpenny, 10 + J?

Another fake 1860 copper halfpenny This guy has the audacity to say "This Victorian halfpenny is one of the coins from a collection which I recently purchased from the estate of a coin collector and head of a Numismatic Society. It is not suprising therefore that this collection is in perfect condition. This is an uncirculated coin which has passed from collector to collector spanning its lifetime. It probably came straight from the mint int (sic) a Numismatic Society Collection." Well, this fake certainly never circulated, I suppose. Unbelievable.

Here is the link to the one on the CC site: 1860 copper halfpenny I don't think there is any doubt it's a fake. Worn coin, clear date like it was added yesterday (as it probably was) in numerals that look thicker than normal. Looking at the hair detail, much lustre presumably refers to the quality polishing that has most likely occured. I have no doubt it's a fake now. Compare it to this 1848 Halfpenny for sale by the same seller. The reverses are effectively identical, meaning it was created by the same "die." Almost looks like the same coin but for the date. The seller has a 100 percent ebay feedback rating! I know a lot of "copies" of both these dates (as well as 1851) have been up for sale on ebay in the last 1-2 years. It was only a matter of time before they would be offered up as real pieces.