Gold coins assessed,-the good, the bad, and the ugly!

[Digger_O'Dell]

Hi all,
Well, I finally got in to meet with the local coin dealer and PCGS rep. The guy is amazing, to say the least! So I'll start with the good. I did VERY well with my fractional coins. Very good to exceptional condition and quite rare. One he's pretty sure was polished at one time, so that's not so good. Still for what I paid, I still did well. The circulated coins for testing the machine with he had no problem with for the most part though he thinks I may have gotten better quality on them for the price. Still up in the air with that.

For the bad. First, he suspects that the 20 cent piece might be a counterfeit, but since he's see so few he can't be sure. If it is, it's silver and a good copy. The next bad news is that the 1853 $1 gold is without a doubt counterfeit. It meets all the specs for the coin, but the clues were the finish on the back, and the tiny machine ejection pin marks.

And for the ugly. Contacted the seller about a refund on the dollar coin, and he threw a total fit! Wrote back that his stuff is authentic, my expert doesn't know sh*t, he's going to call the police and file a report, he wants proof...and so on. The only way to get absolute proof is to send it in to PCGS, pay the money, and have it returned as a certified counterfeit. Cost me more to do that than I paid!

Spoke to my coin dealer about it and even he said probably better to let it go because it's not worth it, and chalk it up to lesson learned. Well, I'll still see if I can shake things up a bit more. Nothing I hate more than getting screwed.

[Bucknut]

Wow that stinks! Sorry to hear that. But you still have some great coins. is the counterfeit made out of gold? if so then at least you got melt value.

Could you show a blown up view of the machined pin marks? That would be interesting to see.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Wow that stinks! Sorry to hear that. But you still have some great coins. is the counterfeit made out of gold? if so then at least you got melt value.

Could you show a blown up view of the machined pin marks? That would be interesting to see.

I'll see what I can do. I'll have to shoot through the loupe to magnify it enough.

[Cooper]

Man that's tuff hope your not out to much. If you got it off e bay, what was the return policy. And if you payed with pay pal you may be able to file a complaint and stop payment.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Man that's tuff hope your not out to much. If you got it off e bay, what was the return policy. And if you payed with pay pal you may be able to file a complaint and stop payment.

Yes, it was through PayPal, and eBay does have it's satisfaction guarantee. Now that I contacted the seller, I have to wait 3 days to file an official complaint with eBay. I haven't responded to his threats yet since I decided not to respond in haste with my usual sarcasm and veiled insults to his manhood he probably wouldn't get anyway.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Ok, I did some checking on the coin. The frosty look on the back looks like microscratches possibly from a rough die finish or post mint abuse. Weight and sizes are dead on. The so called pin marks are still questionable. My guy says he's been wrong in the past, and hopes this is one of those times though it's not likely in his opinion.
My only options are to let it slide and never know for sure, or send it in to PCGS to be checked and graded if it's real. So I'm thinking of just paying the mid level membership fee and getting the 4 free regular coin grading coupons. Start with both questionable coins and get the fractional done as well. Fractional not included in coupon promo of course. I will post once I get the results, but it could be months out.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[OxShoeDrew]

Are counterfeits worth anything? I know we like to find colonial counterfeits. I found a counterfeit 1740s coin made in the 1780s that is worth more than all my other coins. Modern counterfeits worthless?

[Digger_O'Dell]

Well, if this is in fact a counterfeit, then it was worth approximately $165 to the guy who sold it to me!
Other than that, I assume there's no collectors value so only worth melt value for the gold. Also assuming it's real gold of coin proportions that would make it worth about $63.

[Ken C]

I learned a lot in this thread, thank you. Sorry to hear some may not be authentic.

[Cooper]

Yes, it was through PayPal, and eBay does have it's satisfaction guarantee. Now that I contacted the seller, I have to wait 3 days to file an official complaint with eBay. I haven't responded to his threats yet since I decided not to respond in haste with my usual sarcasm and veiled insults to his manhood he probably wouldn't get anyway.

I hope it works out for you