Have you ever received fake coins from a trade?

Not trying to offend anyone, but with all the users on this website, there has to be some fake coins being traded. Have you ever received some thinking they were real?

Well mostly I swap current modern coins or low profile ancient coins.
Those coins that are valuable enough to be faked/replicated/reproduced are to "expensive" to swap and are usually involved in sales.
You will find them easly by E-bay, Ali Baba and dark figures that can be found everywhere.

In order to answer your question I admit that I do get replicas so now and them, but the one who sent them did identificated them as replicas before sending. So there were no surprises and definately multiple consent. :)

Thanks, that is a little sign of relief.

To second Dutchgalego: inexpensive coins are not worth to fake and I wish I got some contemporary fakes of the circulating coins - this would be a nice addition to my collection. As for expensive (and prone to forgeries) coins - you should only swap with Numista members who have excellent reputation/feedback. Those are usually experienced collectors who can tell the difference and who would warn you if there is any chance that the coin is a fake.
And no, in my 144 swaps here at Numista I didn't get any unexpected fakes.

Quote: "Dutchgalego"Those coins that are valuable enough to be faked/replicated/reproduced are to "expensive" to swap and are usually involved in sales.

And how valuable are the coins that are worth to fake?

Quote: "numinis"​And how valuable are the coins that are worth to fake?

​It's a very good question though since I don't make the fake coins I don't really have an answer for this
In general, I always assumed that the coin should cost at least 40-50 dollars in order to be attractive to make fakes of but very recently I've seen on eBay a lot of cast copies of Russian silver 10 kopecks of 1900-1915 that actually costs below $10.

It's common also to find UK 1 pound fakes as well

Some time ago, I swapped a 1923 Danzig 5 Pfennige. Based on the image provided, I assumed VF grade with an NGC-value of $4, so not really a big deal:


When the coin arrived, I was surprised that it was as shiny as a new born baby, grade XF or even AU:


This raised my suspicion, and close examination with a magnifying glass only raised it more. The coin is struck weakly (green circles), has an uneven surface on the obverse (red circles), and on the reverse, the metal shows a peculiar horizontal striping pattern all over (blue circles, doesn't show well on the pics).

I discussed it with my swapping partner. He shared my suspicion, and he was willing to take it back, but I decided to keep it out of curiosity.

For now, im 95% sure that it is a replica. The only thing which makes me doubt is that a replica never comes alone, and so far I have not been able to find a place on the internet where replicas of this particular coin are offered en grosse.

Quote: "numinis"​

Quote: "Dutchgalego"Those coins that are valuable enough to be faked/replicated/reproduced are to "expensive" to swap and are usually involved in sales.

​And how valuable are the coins that are worth to fake?

​Coins shouldn't be faked at all. It's up to those that want cheap earnings cheating others.
I'm also absolutely against the pursue of modern replicas of old coins as some National Banks do.

Quote: "Dutchgalego"Coins shouldn't be faked at all. It's up to those that want cheap earnings cheating others.

I do not support cheating.
I wanted to raise the following question: when should a collector be cautious and take seriously the possibility that a certain coin can be fake? For example, it seems unlikely that coins that are worth 10 cents or less can ever be fake. But what, in your opinion, is the price threshold after which this becomes very much possible?

Quote: "ArnoV"​Some time ago, I swapped a 1923 Danzig 5 Pfennige. Based on the image provided, I assumed VF grade with an NGC-value of $4, so not really a big deal:
​
​
​When the coin arrived, I was surprised that it was as shiny as a new born baby, grade XF or even AU:
​
​
​This raised my suspicion, and close examination with a magnifying glass only raised it more. The coin is struck weakly (green circles), has an uneven surface on the obverse (red circles), and on the reverse, the metal shows a peculiar horizontal striping pattern all over (blue circles, doesn't show well on the pics).
​
​I discussed it with my swapping partner. He shared my suspicion, and he was willing to take it back, but I decided to keep it out of curiosity.
​
​For now, im 95% sure that it is a replica. The only thing which makes me doubt is that a replica never comes alone, and so far I have not been able to find a place on the internet where replicas of this particular coin are offered en grosse.

​I swapped that coin with ArnoV and yes, I offered refund as I take full responsibility for all the coins I swap. I marked it as VF because the details are not fully sharp (see green and blue circles on ArnoV's picture). It is shiny, but it has nothing to do with grading, cleaned worn coins can be shiny too.

The image I sent was from the site of the Auction house where I bought the coin. I tried to find out what's going on after my swap with ArnoV, as I bought a lots of coin from them in the past. Now I changed my opinion and have to say that the coin I sent is original. Here is my theory:

I think that the Auction house or the person who give these coins to auction use some type of chemicals (maybe lacquer?) to make the coins shiny so they sell for more. I think they use pliers, tweezers or something else to hold the coin and then "paint" it with the chemical, but as it dries fast, the mark of the tweezers are visible on all coins, but you can only see them with a magnifying glass or with very sharp eyes.

Now I think that it is not struck weakly but it was a VF coin and "became a newborn" thanks to the chemikals used on it. Maybe they used a bit more than they wanted so when it dried it lead to uneven surface.

I bought a small pack of German Imperial pfennigs from them a year ago (price was $4.50 for 50 pieces, so really worthless coins), and half of the coins had this shiny surface and these "lines" I mentioned (even worn VG pieces). I don't think that anyone on earth would make fake of coins that worth less than a dime each. Some silvers has these lines as well, one cheaper coin that I bought was melted in order to confirm it's silver content, but everything was all right with it (I thought from the "sound" of the coin that it was ok, but I had to make sure).

So in my opinion, it's a dirty trick of a dealer to sell his coins for more, but the coins themselves are not fakes.

These people should be stopped!

Be careful with the coins from Danzig - they are being faked very often. Only buy from trusted sources.

Quote: "druzhynets"​Be careful with the coins from Danzig - they are being faked very often. Only buy from trusted sources.

​Thanks, that's why nowdays I only buy coins in person.

Quote: "Dutchgalego"​

Quote: "druzhynets"​Be careful with the coins from Danzig - they are being faked very often. Only buy from trusted sources.

​​Thanks, that's why nowdays I only buy coins in person.

​
I do the same. We all need to be more careful these days.
I would never expect someone to fake some cheap coins like those pfennigs from Danzig. Disgrace.

Quote: "druzhynets"​​I would never expect someone to fake some cheap coins like those pfennigs from Danzig. Disgrace.

That's also my point. So maybe I'm wrong by putting it away as a replica.

Don't take me wrong: I have no bad feelings about this swap or my swapping partner BSmith. This post alone is worth the few dollars for me.

Also, BSmith has discovered something peculiar and interesting about this online trader. And yes:

Quote: "redsmithstudios"​These people should be stopped!

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I noticed a similar line on many of my own coins a couple of years ago. Like many of you I often refer to a handy picture of a coin saved to my desktop instead of pulling out the album. It turned out to be a hairline scratch on the camera lens!