(n.)
As used by coin writer Susan Headley, a spurious set is any set of coins that lack a true relationship to each other except in the imagination of the collector or marketer that put the set together. If the set is being sold by a firm, it may even come in special packaging intended to add value. Examples, according to Headley, include themed sets (“women on coins”, “World War II”, etc.), year sets, and short sets. The practice is relatively benign, and only crosses over into scam territory when the seller charges more money because the coins are together in the spurious set.
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