By Jack D. Young, Early American Coppers (EAC), and the Dark Side Group ……
Since I wrote my CoinWeek article on Facebook-sponsored ads of counterfeit 1875-CC half dollars, we have seen more activity from the actual counterfeiters – including additional differently dated examples with the common bad “CC” reverse.
So, I’ll start with the newest example and the Facebook and seller ads for these.
Click on the link and you travel (to CN!) to this:
Order one and here is what you get:
And the slab image:
The certification number is for a genuine example and the PCGS online cert has a past auction listing included that leads to an image of the genuine example:
Not even close. Neither obverse nor reverse matches the genuine one, but they are a match (excluding the date) to the previously documented 1875-CC half dollar counterfeit.
Both share the “flattened nose” and splattered blisters indicative of a bad cast coin.
The reverses are a direct match with no date alterations required.
Here’s the recent eBay listing that prompted me to write this article; scales always add to an image of authenticity.
And the “coin” – almost like déjà vu all over again!
And just when I thought it can’t get much worse, the same ‘Bay seller lists an 1873-CC with arrows.
Look familiar?
Following their apparent plan, the counterfeiters continue to use a common type half dollar obverse with different added dates and the common fake reverse.
NGC and Earlier Counterfeit “CC” Half Dollars
Giving credit to my friends at NGC, they wrote an informative article on a fake 1873 With Arrows Half Dollar also published on CoinWeek. In it, the grading service shows images of a similar looking obverse with arrows dated 1873 but with a different reverse.
From their article, they show the obvious date difference to a known genuine example:
And though the date of the counterfeit doesn’t match a genuine example, it does match the 1873-CC subject of this article, along with a number of other common marks!
Having trouble keeping up? I suppose that is something the counterfeiters are hoping for, as the number of new or different fakes seems to grow daily… along with the attempts to sell them.
So, as always, stay vigilant out there; we on the Dark Side and Fun with Fakes are certainly trying!
Best,
—Jack
MORE Articles on Counterfeit Coins by Jack D. Young
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