COINage Magazine » Counterfeits

Is Your Gold Fake?

Coinage Magazine — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:12:59 +0000

Tungsten-filled gold bars have recently been found in China and the Diamond District.

Gold prices may have come down, but that hasn’t stopped counterfeiters. Apparently they believe it’s still worth their while to manufacture fake gold and silver bars and coins.

Last month, MorningMoney.com posted an article about how important it is to know that your gold is genuine. Read Seven Ways to Tell If Your Gold Is Counterfeit here.

Charges Announced in Online Scam

Coinage Magazine — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:08:00 +0000

This photo, courtesy PCGS, is of a genuine war nickel.

[LOS ANGELES] Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced that Abraham Lew Berlin has been charged with nine counts of grand theft for selling counterfeit rare coins on an Internet auction site.

In September and October 2011, Berlin, 63, of Culver City, used his eBay account to list 13 sealed bags supposedly containing Silver War Nickels dated between 1942 and 1945. Berlin then began receiving payments from several customers believing they were purchasing the Silver War Nickels.

When customers did not receive their items despite numerous attempts to contact Berlin, they each filed claims with eBay. The online auction site reimbursed every customer which resulted in significant losses. Berlin made more than $80,000 in the scam.

According to the U.S. Mint, during World War II the five-cent coin was made of an alloy of copper, manganese, and silver. Nickel was kept aside for use in the war effort.

Berlin, who has an extensive criminal history that includes convictions for theft, mail fraud, check fraud, and fraud schemes, pled not guilty to all nine charges of grand theft. His next scheduled court date is November 7.

This case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Natasha Howard of the eCrime Unit. Attorney General Harris created the eCrime Unit in 2011 to identify and prosecute identity theft crimes, cyber crimes and other crimes involving the use of technology. More information about the eCrime Unit is available here: http://oag.ca.gov/cybersafety.

Copies of the complaint and arrest warrant submitted to the court are attached to the online version of this release at www.oag.ca.gov.

PCGS Rewards Counterfeit-Fighting Collector

Coinage Magazine — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:58:04 +0000

Mike Marshall, a collector in Trenton, Ontario, has proven that giant organizations can be held accountable and must conform to anti-counterfeiting laws. PCGS recently rewarded Marshall for his efforts against eBay and PayPal. The entire article follows.

Officials of the Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) are applauding the efforts of collector Mike Marshall ofTrenton,Ontarioin combating the sales of counterfeit coins inCanada. At the recent PCGS Set Registry(SM) luncheon, PCGS announced it was awarding him with a check for $5,000 and a plaque praising his work.

“Mike Marshall has been a huge aid to PCGS in combating Chinese counterfeiting. His tenacity resulted in the removal of several counterfeiters from online auctions,” said Don Willis, President of PCGS, a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLCT).

“The hobby owes Mr. Marshall a debt of gratitude for his selfless efforts. PCGS’ recognition of him is but a token of our appreciation for his efforts.”

In 2009, an article for Canadian Coin News that detailed the counterfeiting problems and explained how he was attempting to get the online auctions halted. He also wrote letters to members of the Canadian Parliament.

Sgt. Tony Farahbakhchian, Pacific Region Counterfeit Coordinator for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, read the Canadian Coin News article and subsequently received a request from his Inspector in Ottawa to resolve the problem of eBay allowing the selling of counterfeit Canadian coins on their auction web sites.

“I researched the Criminal Code and informed senior eBay legal representatives at their headquarters in San Jose, California and Mr. Marshall that the selling of counterfeit legal tender Canadian coins was illegal in Canada, as per Section 450 of the Criminal Code. I advised them that the importation and selling of counterfeit legal tender Canadian coins was illegal in the country,” said Sgt. Farahbakhchian

”In consultation with the E Division (Pacific Region) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, they decided to amend their policy to ban the sale of all Canadian replicas inNorth America. The E Division’s Federal Commercial Crime Section’s Integrated Counterfeit Enforcement Team went a step further by requesting eBay to stop the selling of counterfeit Canadian coins on all their worldwide auction sites. They graciously complied with our demands.”

“Mr. Marshall’s writings were instrumental in starting the process that led to stopping the sale of counterfeit coins online in Canada, whether stamped ‘copy’ or not, “said Willis.” “Through his research on corporate policies, he discovered a process through which sales of counterfeit coins could be brought to the attention of PayPal to ensure that PayPal also conformed to anti-counterfeiting laws.”

“Mr. Marshall then applied the same technique to the sales of counterfeit coins in theUnited States. He was primarily responsible for the removal from eBay this year of one of the top Chinese counterfeiters. In recognition of his monumental efforts on behalf of the hobby, PCGS was pleased to honor Mr. Marshall with a check for $5,000 and a plaque.”

Marshall told the Winnipeg Free Press in September 2009 that most of the counterfeit coin problems online in theU.S. would be eliminated if the U.S. Hobby Protection Act was changed to require the words “copy” or “replica” to be part of the dies used to make all replica coins.

Faking It

Marcy Gibbel — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:26:53 +0000

It seems that now more than ever, people want to know, “What’s it worth?” The current economic landscape has both collectors and non-collectors searching attics, basements, vacant lots and their pockets for valuable coins.

That’s good news. Some will make the leap from casual accumulators to serious collectors and investors. Some of those people may find an undiscovered rarity. Even better, a few young people may play less Guitar Hero and get more involved with coin collecting.

The bad news is, some of those “rarities” that were discovered in Grandma’s attic or dug up at the playground may be fakes and not worth anything at all.

The good news is, there are several ways to find out if that 1799 Trade dollar is authentic. (It’s not. Trade dollars weren’t produced in 1799.)

An Internet search of “counterfeit coins” will turn up thousands of books, Web sites and discussions about how to detect counterfeit coins. Everyone from about.com to the Secret Service has photos and written descriptions about how they’re made and what to look for.

And, if you want to see some counterfeits up close—and you happen to be in Cincinnati, Ohio—check out the Central States Numismatic Society Convention. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS, www.pcgs.com) will be there April 30 to May 2 with examples from their Counterfeits Reference Collection. Why settle for pictures when you can see the real fakes?

The 70^th Anniversary CSNS Convention will be held in the Duke Energy Center, 525 Elm St., in downtown Cincinnati. Public hours are Thursday, April 30, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday, May 1, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Additional information about the CSNS convention is available at www.CentralStates.info.