By Jack D. Young, Early American Coppers (EAC) ……
A continuation of the series on the latest deceptive struck counterfeits, this is the second research article on silver “coins” and the most recent type yet. The timeline for this one shows the presumed genuine source example sold on the internet back in August of 2012, and the earliest probable struck clone documented to date sold in that same venue in October of 2014.
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Taking a break from the counterfeit early coppers we concentrated on initially (as a member of Early American Coppers, or EAC) we move to a recent silver example. As with the subjects of a majority of this series of summary articles, this variety came to light as a result of research into two initial groups submitted to two TPGs, yielding a key date in the Liberty Standing quarter series, the 1927-S.
And like many of the initial varieties we chased, this one can be dated to mid-2015. From there, we started our search for matching examples, hoping to document as many as we could and (if really fortunate) to find the genuine source coin used to make the counterfeit “dies”.
As previously reported in our first CoinWeek article on the subject, “From the Brink to the Dark Side“, this variety is one of several that started with the purchase of a damaged genuine coin that was repaired. And, as in most cases to date, the resulting details just did not look “quite right” and did not exactly match the details of a known genuine example. This led to our nickname for these as the “visor head” variety!
The original internet images for the “discovery” example were low resolution and would have been difficult to highlight the attributable circulation and repair/tooling marks. But our contacts at NGC made the following higher resolution images available for this research.
Initial Research Example (images courtesy NGC) example #5
Now the search was on! Poring through the typical internet sites resulted in the following images of the most likely source coin. Note: as stated in the CoinWeek article mentioned above, it is interesting how our research has evolved and paradigms have shifted over time; the first “repaired” source coin that I saw was uncovered while researching the fake 1793 “S-5” wreaths (Penny-Wise, July 2016). That opened my eyes to look for more, to the point I routinely look for severely damaged/holed examples to start with – it explains the odd lettering and spacing we see on many counterfeits.
August 2012 Holed Probable Source example #1
Comparison images of these two show the obvious areas of repair and highlight the areas expected to differ from a genuine example while matching any other struck examples.
Obverse example #5 and Known Genuine example (courtesy PCGS)
Reverse example #5 and Known Genuine example (courtesy PCGS)
As has happened in the previously researched varieties, the second suspect example appeared in a few days of internet searching; having images of the source example certainly helps to focus the search!
This example was TPG-slabbed and shown as being sold on the internet in October of 2014, roughly two years from the sale of the damaged source. Comparison images between this one and the NGC-imaged example show the common sister marks (common circulation or attribution marks) between these two, even though the images of the second example are lower resolution.
Note: as in the previous articles, the holder images have been cropped as a courtesy to those we are working with on the continuing research.
10/29/2014 Internet example #2
Obverse example #2 and example #5
Reverse example #2 and example #5
Following up routinely on our list of interwoven sellers resulted in discovering another suspicious example. This “coin” was apparently designated a counterfeit by the buyer and positive feedback given as “Got a refund for counterfeit coin”!
11/10/2015 Internet example #4 (later noted as Counterfeit)
As noted in previous research articles on this subject, a timeline proved helpful in trying to piece together the history of these, especially with the time lapses between examples.
Timeline for the 1927-S Liberty Standing Quarter:
- August 12, 2012: Raw internet example – probable source coin
- October 29, 2014: TPG-certified internet example
- July 30, 2015: TPG-certified internet example
- November 10, 2015: Raw internet example – returned as counterfeit
- Late 2015: Example from a known suspect TPG submission (“Not Genuine”)
Continuing the search we found a third TPG-certified example.
7/30/2015 Internet example #3
And now for some additional speculation, as the one raw example appears closest to the damaged source example in comparison, especially considering the localized toning of both and the appearance of the rims. We have yet to see the counterfeiters duplicate original toning…
Probable Source example #1 and raw example #4 Obverse
Probable Source example #1 and raw example #4 Reverse
More research articles/attribution pages are in process; the focused team of watchers/researchers on our Facebook page “Dark Side” continues to be vigilant in the documentation and communication of these latest deceptive threats to our hobby.
We can all draw our own conclusions about what is real or what is “Memorex”, but I am convinced more than one of these is counterfeit! I would ask that the reader be on the lookout for other duplicate examples and REPORT them. Remember, the truth is out there!
As always, the research continues to be a collaborative effort with many EAC members and friends participating.
Best regards,
—Jack D. Young, EAC 5050
