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How to Detect Counterfeit Coins
A special machine does the stamping of coins
to make them genuine. People who counterfeit coins are well
trained and have the capacity to manipulate their duplication -
especially those rare coins which have high value among
collectors. The most common procedure used in counterfeiting is
that they pour a liquid metal into molds that will leave die
marks with cracking on the counterfeit coin.
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 is in possession of a counterfeit collectible coin, he
can compare it with another coin – one like the suspect coin –
which is known be genuine and have the same markings.
If the coin’s value is more than 5 cents, look for corrugations
in the outer edges of the coin. These are very thin railings
(also know 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.
There are many things that can be considered to determine
whether the coin is counterfeit or not. There are terms that 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 actually dated earlier than those
originally issued by the country that released them but have the
same or exact features as the original coins.
2. Coins of a specific country in the ancient times are
sometimes copied by another country. A person may think that it
is forgery, 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 with the intention of
profiting from them and destabilizing their enemy’s economic
situation.
4. Another known type of counterfeit coins 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.