Beginners luck?

[clorox]

Stumbled on this bit of the forum last night and just started reading and reading. I was inspired! Here's how I did on my first hunt:

I couldn't make it to the big monthly flea market, but the weekly one was still open. One lady had some very old Chinese coins that were square with a hole in the middle and some Chinese badges circa the Cultural Revolution. Probably should have picked them up, they looked quite official and nothing like most of the Chinese badges and pins on eBay.

So I kept looking around, sometimes asking if they had any old coins, when one guy pulls these out:


The last one is an obvious fake (magnetic), and I can't find any info on the second-to-last. I don't know yet if the other three are authentic or not, these coins were and still are widely counterfeited at varying degrees of quality. Even if they are fake, I'm still pretty sure they're silver. Not bad for $25, I think.

I also got 12 MUNI tokens at an estate sale shop for $10. Selling on eBay for about $5 to $8 each.

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[cyberdan]

I was going to suggest checking with a magnet but you beat me to it. Whenever I go to swapmeets I see larger Chinese and Mexican silver looking coins. They want a lot untill I pull out my magnet and check. The price goes down real fast. I collect counterfeit but have not seen any outstanding fakes at swapmeets.

[OldSowBreath]

I've seen some outstanding fakes at the meatmarkets.

[cyberdan]

I once saw a small pile of U.S. silver $$ at swap meet. I picked one up and could tell by the feel it was fake. The edge felt rough. I secretly did the magnet test and it failed. I told the seller they were fake and he instantly started an argument that he only sells real coins. I walked away and glanced back when two booths down. He was looking at all his $$ with a magnifying glass. I bet he actually thought they were real when he bought them. Now he knows he was duped.

[clorox]

These weren't even from a coin guy. I just asked around for coins and he rummaged through some junk in the back of his truck and pulled them out.

The second-to-last coin pictured is a fake of an extremely rare coin. I've done some more looking into the three on the top row and I can't tell yet. If they're modern fakes (they were all widely counterfeited at the time they were in circulation) then they're damn good.

[stefen]

My personal rule of thumb is "Do Not Buy And Investigate Later"...

I've seen too many people on TN that have bought items (including coins) only to find later that they are fakes...Often see someone post saying I bought this for $12 bucks...How did I do?...and as often the reply is that they have been screwed...

It's better to kick yourself for not buying than to buy and find you've been duped...

Using a magnet only helps if the coin is made of steel...and not copper, brass, silver or gold...

Probably the best advice is to be a wise and knowledgable shopper...

[clorox]

I knew I was taking a gamble. If they turn out to be fake, or at least not silver, then yeah, it'll be a bummer. But at $25 it's not going to break the bank and at least I'll learn something from it.

[cyberdan]

I've seen some outstanding fakes at the meatmarkets.

Do you mean like these?

[JustMidge]

^^^WINNER

[gord]

^^^WINNER

I can only see 2 points?

[gilgar]

My personal rule of thumb is "Do Not Buy And Investigate Later"...

I've seen too many people on TN that have bought items (including coins) only to find later that they are fakes...Often see someone post saying I bought this for $12 bucks...How did I do?...and as often the reply is that they have been screwed...

It's better to kick yourself for not buying than to buy and find you've been duped...

Using a magnet only helps if the coin is made of steel...and not copper, brass, silver or gold...

Probably the best advice is to be a wise and knowledgable shopper...

Don't forget weight, if you can find out what the coins should weigh. I bought a Morgan dollar on ebay and luckily I received a Peace dollar on the same day because when I had them in my hands, I noticed the Morgan dollar seemed a little lighter. I looked at it more closely and noticed it had some sharp edges in weird place and some of the reeding overlapped. I looked up fakes online and it mentioned how much they should weigh. I threw it on my trusty triple beam balance and sure enough, it was 10 grams short of what it should be. I'm thinking it was silver plated as the coin did look to be silver. Luckily I was able to get a refund.

Weight is not a guarantee though because apparently they counterfeit rare, espensive coins using 90% silver just like the real thing. Just another way of checking

[cyberdan]

I can only see 2 points?

That is what I was just thinking.