The effect of forgeries on our collections.

[Jimmyb0468]

After posting earlier today about a Kew garden 50p, Chinese copy, I have spent the rest of today, reading about fake coins. This forum is full of posts about collectors who are worried about the authenticity of their purchases. There was a really interesting post about a 1934 wreath crown, graded and slabbed by experts, that seemed to really divide forum members, as to its authenticity. This got me thinking. We now know that the quality of forgeries has increased greatly in recent times. Experts are now being fooled and normal, everyday collectors (ME!!) have NO CHANCE of knowing, if what were buying, is genuine or not.  It would seem that 10/15 years ago, fakes were slightly cruder and came with tell tale signs of their dubious origin. NOT NOW!!  It looks to me as if we are fast approaching a time, where only an array of high tech testing equipment is required, to tell, if what we are buying is real or not. So, my question is......in every other walk of life, when a market gets spooked, prices plummet. Will this happen in COIN collecting ?  Is there evidence it's already happening?  Or am I paranoid!!!!

[1949threepence]

No you're not paranoid. It's understandable to be worried, but coins have been faked for a very long time. What's different now, as you rightly allude to, is that the quality of the fakes makes them difficult to spot. There's some coins which have been faked for a long time, such as the 1905 shilling and halfcrown, some of which are tooled versions of other legit coins from different years. As far as I can tell there hasn't yet been a significant effect on values.

As to how the future will pan out in this regard, I don't know, and if they're being honest, nor does anyone else. But let's not forget the scope of coins across the board, is huge, and the Chinese haven't a hope of tracking the lot, or even any more than a minority, and faking them. To do an effective job, they have to specialise, and the very fact that a fake Kew Gardens 50p has come to light, means they will be found out, however good they think they are, or seem.      

 

[Jimmyb0468]

A few years ago, I collected British military medals. I went off them overnight, when I found out forgers were replicating certain medals, using original machinery that had been sold off years before. The forgers used British military records to correctly name recipients on the outer rims of the medals. I was once shown 4 general service medals for Northern Ireland. They were all inscribed to the same soldier!! Same regiment. Same service number. I started collecting coins, thinking they were a safer bet, Lol 

[Colin G.]

This is one area where provenance can relax you somewhat. If you can identify a coin with provenance that has images, it would be almost impossible to match the coin including toning, surface marks etc. There seem to be specific coins that have been targeted to date, it is not a common issue that affects all denominations/dates and therefore is not a substantial issue...yet

[Guest Guest]

What do we all think of this Charles I coin on eBay presently? 

272517122247

[Rob]

2 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

What do we all think of this Charles I coin on eBay presently? 

272517122247

Probably alright and just in dire condition. It isn't one that is noted for copies.

[Peter]

Richard (Tomgoodheart) pictured some snide CH1 shillings that would of fooled me (not difficult)

It is a case of knowing the series in detail before taking the plunge.