1763 Shillings ALL FAKE!

[Mat]

Hello guys

I feel it is worth mentioning....

During my several hours of scanning the net and ebay daily I have realised lots of 1763 shillings appearing, has anyone else noticed??

Here are just two examples:

250411554415

330321704142 (I won this at a very low price but didnt pay for it)

I have come across 8 in total over the last two weeks of which one is real, and considering this is quite a scarce coin.... its just far to coincidental. These by law of averages compared to coins of similar scarcity only appear on ebay once every 2-3 months or so.

Here are all the telltale signs:

Most of the sellers are from China.

Some ebay accounts are US registered, BUT if you look at the way the listing is worded you can tell its not wrote by an English speaking person.

Most listings have the bidders kept private.

ALL of the sellers have 100% positive feedback, and it you look carefully you will notice all the feedback seems to be fictitious, i.e. most comments are "Nice coin thanks" or other things to that effect. Look at a genuine feedback, or mine (icedchetty) comments are always so varied from person to person.

All the 1763 shillings are all in fantastic condition, and should all command £500+. Also note the colour of these coins are just slightly off... the same colour as most of the early milled fake 8 real coins... good forgeries but obvious if you look very carefully.

Most of the sellers have other coins for sale which are all usually quite scarce and all in fantastic condition which again is too coincidental.

Maybe these sellers are all working together in a gang ring or something. Don’t get fooled! As tempting as it is to bid and win one of these for less than £200.... it’s NOT the real thing.

Mat

PS on a total different subject a nice Henry Hase £1 just sold on ebay for £600, (I bid £590)... very unusual for one to sell for less than £1000 in good condition.............

[VickySilver]

Mat, You know I was thinking the same thing even though these are a bit out of my dates for collecting - sure seemed like a lot of them coming up.

I noticed that you can have an 1851 halfcrown if you don't mind the spurious Chinese origin! They are evidently also making things like late date Isle of Man crowns that one would never think they would touch...

[scott]

yea chinese do that thing often.. they forge anything and everything.

[Dg43]

This is a recurring theme on the forum. Sadly it is inadvisable to purchase anything of a collectable nature from China, although there must of course be reputable and genuine Chinese dealers, but - how do you tell the difference?

Also, many people do buy fakes from China, either knowingly or unknowingly and sell them on from addresses in this country to which no suspicion is attached.

This link, whilst more specific to the faking of US coins, shows the scale of the problem.

http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/Ch...ing/index_g.htm

[Mat]

Wow, after looking at that link it is a little scary! Like we all agree its just better to avoid anything from a chinese seller. I did notice an isle of man crown now you have mentioned it! Never been interested in those of have the knowledge on isle of man coins, but yes just shows, and for them to be copying even lincoln cents as show on the link, only worth £10! thats whats scary.

[Farmer Palmer]

I was told yesterday by my English dealer that UK dealers will no longer buy 1763 shillings as there are far too many about.That i believe is just the start of it.

[darren]

Thanks for warning! I've just become interested in collecting shillings and I probably would have fallen for that.

[darren]

Thanks for warning! I've just become interested in collecting shillings and I probably would have fallen for that.

Oops I'm a year to late. No wander I couldn't find any on ebay. Still it will make me more wary of sellers from the far east. Thanks again.

[1949threepence]

I don't believe old coins, even in apparent BU condition, will possess the pristine purity of say, a new 2010 2p, or 50p. There is almost always some slight dulling of lustre. Therefore, in my opinion, a "fresh from the mint" appearance of any old coin, might well be a tell tale sign of a fake, and something I'd be very wary of.

[Farmer Palmer]

Thats true and something to watch for i would think although without question toning is faked as often as coins are.Ive been watching intently a few of the Chinese sellers and they even fake the circulated look.

Its a real minefield.Having said that,heres a shiny bauble ill put up on the chopping block for inspection,i bought it in good faith as genuine,i dont know if these coins are being faked but id imagine so.This one looks better in hand , the photos are many times enlarged so show the slightest inperfections as glaring scars,its not so in hand,its as close to UNC as im likely to see.

[£400 for a Penny ?]

I would contend that this has been cleaned, fairly roughly as well.

As to grade, the hair around the temple region has been worn flat, I would struggle to go more than a strong VF.

Rgds,

[1949threepence]

I agree with 400 ~ genuine, but cleaned. About GVF.

Nonetheless, my 2009 coin yearbook (which I should have updated but haven't), does warn against recent forgeries of the 1849 florin, just underneath grading to value details of that specific coin.

[Farmer Palmer]

Thank you very much guys , my only concern was if its genuine or not.The flash on my camera has much to answer for as the coin does not look as bland in hand , theres actually some nice lavender toning going on if tilted in the light.

Ive weighed it and it comes in at 11.3gr which would be correct for this coin.Thanks again guys for confirmation,this is one i was worried about only because of condition.

[1949threepence]

Thank you very much guys , my only concern was if its genuine or not.The flash on my camera has much to answer for as the coin does not look as bland in hand , theres actually some nice lavender toning going on if tilted in the light.

Ive weighed it and it comes in at 11.3gr which would be correct for this coin.Thanks again guys for confirmation,this is one i was worried about only because of condition.

I'd say it was genuine ~ first instinct is that it looks old metal. If you look at the obverse, for example, there are numerous little nicks which appear to have been gathered over many years. Hard to reproduce artificially IMHO.