Loading...A special machine does the stamping of coins to make them genuine. People who counterfeit coins are well trained and can manipulate their duplication – especially those rare coins which have high value among collectors.
Those who are experts in determining counterfeit coins have observed that the changes seen in the coins have added, removed, or even altered the coin’s date markings.
If a person thinks that he has a counterfeit collectable coin, he can compare it with another coin – one like the suspect coin – which is known to be genuine and have the same markings.
If the coin’s value is more than 5 cents, look for corrugations on the outer edges of the coin. These are very thin railings (also known as “reeding”) on the edges of the coins.
Genuine coins have very thin edges and the railings are even and distinct if one is very observant. Those coins that are counterfeit can be distinguished if the edges are not thin enough and the railing is uneven or missing in some areas.
Should there be an instance when a person perceives that he has received a counterfeit coin, he must not return the counterfeit coin to the person that handed him. He must try to delay the person – should he try to escape – or try to keep that person in sight and follow him to his destination if possible.
It is important to remember the person’s clothes and physical appearance and if the person has any companion during the exchange: if they have a vehicle, get the car’s license plate number and immediately call the nearest police department or the United States Secret Service for help.
Many things can be considered to determine whether the coin is counterfeit or not. Some terms are used to describe a counterfeit coin’s characteristics and they are as follows:
1. A restrike of a coin can be considered to be genuinely authenticated. These coins are dated earlier than those originally issued by the country that released them but have the exact features as the original coins.
2. Coins of a specific country in ancient times are sometimes copied by another country. A person may think that it is for a try, but it is not because they had been legally approved in the country where they originated.
3. Forgery can be associated with the making of an illegal profit. It would be the main objective of the counterfeiting syndicate. The government sometimes uses forgery for political propaganda, as in the Second World War when Germans produced millions of American and British banknotes to profit from them and destabilize their enemy’s economic situation.
4. Another known type of counterfeit coin is replica coins. Replica simply means that the original coins are copied with the same features and markings. The usual counterfeit coins have differences that are noticeable when examined by coin experts. Some coins have the word “copy” intentionally put on the sides of the coins and these replicas are used for educational purposes and museum displays.
5. A Lebanese connection is said to have a huge production of counterfeit coins. These coins were found to be used in an attempt to fool many museums, collectors, business leaders and other countries that are searching for their ancient lost coins before the discovery of this syndicate.
6. The collector-intended forgery and the circulated intended forgery are types of forgeries where the coins are intended to be tokens yet the face values are accepted, despite of their illegality and irrelevant intrusive values.
It is important to consult an expert to determine if the coin is counterfeit or fake. An ordinary person can easily detect if the wrong metal was used for the counterfeiting. If the person is a collector of such items, he should be more aware of these coins.
A collector needs to be more concerned with the collectible rare coins because this is where counterfeiters benefit frequently – their aim is to profit from the exclusive market for valuable coins.
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