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From the Brink II: An Update on Struck Counterfeits & Damaged Source Coins – 1807 Early Dime & Friends

Struck Counterfeits

By Jack D. Young, Early American Coppers (EAC) for CoinWeek ……
This article is intended as a continuation of the information reported in my previous CoinWeek article in regards to discoveries of damaged and repaired legitimate coins used to create the dies to strike this latest wave of struck “clones”/counterfeits. As previously stated, the research continues to be a collaborative effort with many participating numismatic clubs, Facebook “Dark Side” members and friends participating.

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1807 JR-1 dime. Images courtesy Jack D. Young

1807 JR-1 Dime

I continue to report on the status of the research efforts to find additional deceptive struck counterfeits; as part of this effort an equal challenge has been discovering the probable “source” examples used to develop dies to strike these fakes. Refocusing the research effort on damaged genuine coins (sold on the internet venues and major coin auctions) first is producing additional possible fake varieties. This revised search methodology has redefined my search parameters for both investigating possible source coins and also additional struck fakes; to that end this article starts with a dramatic example of this slightly backwards approach going forward, a coin that is certainly the most damaged example of the group seen to date.

In this process, another piece of information helpful in this effort is a developed “time-line”; I use this while reviewing the available subject images to help determine which came first in a logical progression in an effort to sort out the differences and duplicates among a group of possibly different/ unique examples.

The resulting time-line for the researched 1807 dimes is as follows:

  1. July 3, 2013 – Holed example sold on the Internet
  2. December 9, 2015 – Certified “PLUGGED” example sold on the Internet
  3. 1st example certified as “QUESTIONABLE AUTHENTICITY”
  4. 2nd example certified as “QUESTIONABLE AUTHENTICITY”; this example was included in a group with several bad early coppers from the fall of 2015 (images shared on the EAC website at http://eacs.org/blog/)
  5. May 20, 2016 – Raw example sold on the Internet
  6. December 15, 2016 – Raw example sold on the Internet

Images exist for five of the six in the time-line; no images have currently been found for the first certified “QUESTIONABLE AUTHENTICITY” (“body-bagged”, not encapsulated) example (#3). Comparative available images are as follows:

Damaged, Certified and Raw counterfeits. Images courtesy Jack D. Young

Damaged example (#1, above); Certed “PLUGGED” example (#2); Raw example (#4)

Reverse, Damaged, Certified and Raw counterfeits. Images courtesy Jack D. Young

Reverses of damaged example (#1, above); Certed “PLUGGED” example (#2); Raw example (#4)

certified questionable vs. genuine example, 1807 dime

Obvious differences circled in red between “QUESTIONABLE” example #4 and a known genuine one; the indicated differences to the genuin coin are common to all of the documented suspect examples in this review (indicative of the repairs required to the damaged source coin).

Certified questionable vs. genuine example 1807 dime

The next set of images compares what appears to be the same example:Plugged example, 1807 dime

Certed “PLUGGED” example (#2); Raw internet example (#5)

Reverse, plugged example, 1807 dime

Reverses of certed “PLUGGED” example (#2); Raw internet example (#5)

Note the common marks and toning between these; as we have not seen counterfeits with duplicate original toning as the source coins I suggest these are likely the same coin/ example.

The next pair:

Raw example, 1807 dime

Raw internet example (#6); Raw example (#4)

Reverse, raw example, 1807 dime

Raw internet example (#6) Raw example (#4)

Note the similar appearance and toning between these, but different from the previous pair (#2 and #5).

While comparing all known examples it is difficult to be positive which are definitely genuine and which are fakes (“live or Memorex” when dealing with images only, but there are enough common and uncommon marks on these examples to be confident there is at least one counterfeit within the group!

Certified example, 1807 dime

Certed “PLUGGED” (#2); Raw example (#4)

Reverse, certified example, 1807 dime

Raw internet example (#5); Raw example (#4)

And now a preview of things to come on this topic! All pairs include repaired genuine coins and examples sold by the same group of apparently connected internet sellers. It appears the counterfeiters were going after an early American “coin” type set…

More examples from Jack D. Young

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Thanks again to all who continue to help with this project, especially my “Dark Side” friends!

Best regards,

–Jack

 

Jack D. Young
Jack D. Young
An engineer by training, Jack D. Young is a researcher and author on the subject of the recent wave of deceptive struck counterfeits. He is the founder of the "Dark Side" Counterfeits and Fakes Facebook watch group, a participating member of Early American Coppers (EAC) since 2002, the Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC), C4, the NLG, the ANA, and the ANS. Jack has consulted on the subject of counterfeits and their effect on the Hobby with staffers of the United States Senate Finance Committee, a senior member of the U.S. Secret Service (both with the ACTF as an Expert Network volunteer), and agents of both CBP and the Department of the Treasury. His work has appeared in various club journals, including The Numismatist, and he was acknowledged for his research by Q. David Bowers in the latter's The Copper Coins of Vermont (2018). The ACTF awarded Jack Young the Alan Kreuzer Award in 2019 and the PNG presented him with the Sol Kaplan Award in 2022. He started collecting as a youth, filling a Lincoln penny board with his grandmother, and continues to collect low-grade early large cents by date and some varieties.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Using this article a member of our FB group found another example of this one listed on eBay; appears to possibly be an additional example previously in a TPG slab.

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