Meet the Counterfeit $20 Gold Saint-Gaudens - Which One is Real, Which One is Fake?

Рет қаралды 6,082

Күн бұрын

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Ben The Coin Geek
Old Pueblo Coin

Пікірлер: 65

@morgansinner 6 ай бұрын

I thought the left (counterfeit) coin was authentic at first when viewing the edges. But when you went to the obverse it became more obvious. The authentic has a richness to the gold color lacking on the counterfeit . I really enjoyed this lesson.. thanks Ben 😊

@CertifiedPre33 6 ай бұрын

I hate to say it.. fairly quality copy 😳

@silverdrillpickle7596 6 ай бұрын

You said that right! 😳😳

@lpandy21 6 ай бұрын

Good lesson.Thank you for sharing.

@jeffnelson4489 6 ай бұрын

Nice class for newbies thanks👍

@suec3215 11 күн бұрын

I was most caught off guard with the edge. Thanks for the great video! That helped a lot. I got the grainy issue and luster. You did a. Great job showing the differences

@TheCoinGeek 11 күн бұрын

Glad it helped!

@tomvayne7578 6 ай бұрын

Really hard to tell without a real coin to compare.

@jackstehlik1942 4 ай бұрын

That's a scary good looking counterfeit! I thought the left coin immediately because Liberty's hair and face seemed very soft which is off for a coin that appears to be in very high grade. I couldn't tell by color as much, though that may be my computer screen

@rasbobbo 6 ай бұрын

I sip at the well of your coingeekitude

@MarkB3h 6 ай бұрын

Though I can follow along, I don't bet on my ability to detect all counterfeits. Anything over $100 for me is slabbed for authentication. Thanks for the education on subtle differences.

@kitnye5729 6 ай бұрын

Great video very informative I like learning about counterfeits . Nobody wants to get burnt on a purchase.

@GreenWonder09 6 ай бұрын

Very informative. Probably one of the best counterfeits I have seen. I'm always interested in examples so I can spot them if necessary. Do you have examples of good counterfeits of silver eagles? I have not seen any truly accurate copies which is reassuring, but if you have examples that you think are scary close it would be good to get your take on how to distinguish them apart. If you have other examples of scary accurate counterfeits I would also love to see more videos about that. Only other truly accurate fake I have seen, that is not obvious, is the omega coin. I have not heard of the spark erosion method of counterfeiting. On a quick search it seems they just directly erode a planchet, but maybe they make dies by this method too? Is the main distinction the way the finish looks like you were pointing out, or are there other traits to pick out? Scary accurate how they were able to get. Thanks for making this video! I thought I had developed an eye for fakes but I would not have been able to truly say what was the fake in this example if you hadn't shared.

@michaelgoodspeed846 6 ай бұрын

Hi Ben - nice in depth commentary - I still could not tell the difference if you put those coins in front of me, but with this video I MAY have a shot at telling the difference. Thanks and Best Wishes

@michaelgoodspeed846 6 ай бұрын

Hi Ben

@kevinpoggensee 6 ай бұрын

Hey Ben

@fifteenbyfive 6 ай бұрын

Well I was wrong as can be on this one. That's a dangerous counterfeit. How many have been ripped off and don't even know it?

@don951 6 ай бұрын

Yikes! That is scary good.

@stevieadamoschek9293 6 ай бұрын

So is this counterfeit 90% gold?

@kevinwaltz8852 6 ай бұрын

Great video Ben, thanks for documenting this!

@harrybond1485 6 ай бұрын

That is tough.

@nicolasrossi5978 6 ай бұрын

Thanks. Not fully seeing what you are trying to explain beyond some weakness of strike in some places. So to my eye, both the edge lettering, and edge devices (stars, lines) were crisper 'struck up better' and appeared more precise on the counterfeit, (though they may have been incorrect in shape and or thickness). Likewise the 4 in the date on the real coin was out of proportion to the other date numerals in the date and looked somewhat 'blob like' (almost like a different font!), while on the counterfeit the date numerals looked uniform and better formed/struck up. So to me, assuming they were both real gold (so that wouldn't be the giveaway), had they been a little more worn or circulated, so that the original 'as struck' finish wasn't as discernible, the counterfeit would then be the coin that appeared less amateurish, because those areas mentioned would appear to be the more precise of the two when compared side by side. Just saying.

@joshpointoh 6 ай бұрын

I thought the same. I saw the left and right edges and assumed the left was the real one

@nicolasrossi5978 6 ай бұрын

Yep beyond tricky some times. Years ago I bought via mail order (before internet) a 3 cent silver from a very reputable dealer in So.California who had it advertised along with many other coins in a popular coin magazine. Good looking coin in absolutely every way (XF+/AU piece), and it came back as counterfeit from ANACS when submitted. I couldn't certainly, tell and neither could that long time, experienced dealer. I was able to get a refund based on the ANACS determination.@@joshpointoh

@dr.osborne7510 6 ай бұрын

That spark erosion looks much better than I would have thought. Maybe you can tell from luster, but what if it's a worn coin like a bust half sparked from a real AU coin? How do the grading companies tell the difference between one of those and a cleaned or damaged genuine? Great video. Thanks!

@asheland_numismatics 4 ай бұрын

Great video. 👍

@samabrahams7687 6 ай бұрын

It's a good copy could fool a few people. Including me I dont deal with manny American coins so at a glance it looks ok some fakes are realy crude . When you inspect upclose it is a little grainy also devices arnt as sharpe . Thanks ben excellent information best type of videos love the information gained 👍👍

@farmdog1476 6 ай бұрын

Great video thanks for sharing, with out the loop it was for me to tell the real from the fake. You could see the differnce in the reflection the cart wheel effect.

@TheCoinGeek 6 ай бұрын

Yup

@CertifiedPre33 6 ай бұрын

The 🤪 part for me is I just bought my first saint.. and it's also the common 1924.. but mine is cacg 64 🤓

@donaldinnewmexico 6 ай бұрын

FOURTH???

@donaldinnewmexico 6 ай бұрын

G.O.A.T.

@donaldinnewmexico 6 ай бұрын

Hi Ben. Put an OPC Owl sticker on the genuine coin. *>>>---------------------->* 🦉

@MichaelC_22 6 ай бұрын

I got it right. I initially suspected it from seeing both obverse. But, as soon as you showed the reverses, there was something "off" about the eagle on the fake one, especially with how the light reflected off of it when moving it around.😢

@Kenlydford 6 ай бұрын

158th dang it, but hey glad to be here nonetheless. Always a good show. 👌

@clarencescherich539 6 ай бұрын

How do you know it doesn’t have a tungsten core?

@JUST1N888 6 ай бұрын

Way over my pay grade thanks for the education 😊 great video

@mjanovec 6 ай бұрын

You didn’t address the composition of the counterfeit coin, other than to say it could be traded as a bullion piece. That suggests that the gold in the counterfeit is genuine, even if the coin itself is a reproduction. Does it test as 90% gold or is there a different gold percentage which accounts for the slightly different weight? This would be useful information for collectors who have access to a Sigma Metalytics tester. Also, it may not be obvious to all of your viewers that a 1924-S is a more valuable date. It wasn’t obvious to me until I looked it up in the Red Book.

@StevenDietrich-k2w 6 ай бұрын

My first thought when I saw the reflectance was that the coin on the left reflected too much light over too large of a surface. I figured it was the fake, and I certainly wouldn't have known the difference had it been presented to me for sale.

@frankbelt633 6 ай бұрын

Talk about a show stopper when it comes to having confidence with what you are purchasing is authentic. It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to imagine purchasing a coin thinking it is authentic only to find out later when you go to sell it that it’s a fake. It’s hard to accept that kind of risk when making a purchase.

@charleswaynick18waynick58 Ай бұрын

What would be a good price for a 1927 one of these?

@borisperez3129 6 ай бұрын

When you flipped the Eagles have it away to me immediately. But overall a fairly well done fake

@Cookincardsdude 6 ай бұрын

Luster is my favorite word in numismatics.

@2trips850 Ай бұрын

I thought St. Gaudens double eagles had a reeded edge.Do some years have lettering and some have reeds, which years are which?

@williamguirl7735 6 ай бұрын

BITD, mainly the 70s, many faked gold coins came out of Lebanon. Ben, we saw $20 Gold coins we(USA) used to pay for Saudi Oil in the 60s & 70s, someone working there(Saudi Arabia) was paid in gold coins, they were struck with $20 Liberty obverse, and a totally different reverse. Our LCS saw 6 of them and bought 5.

@ytguy2010 6 ай бұрын

Ben says that you can trade (buy/sell) that fake gold coin for bullion value. But isn't it illegal to trade a fake coin? Don't you need to stamp something onto the coin itself like the word "COPY"?

@robertscagnelli1011 6 ай бұрын

Thanks Ben!

@timber72 6 ай бұрын

Sylar...? The bad guy from Heroes...? Talk about obscure references!

@sandiepaul9421 6 ай бұрын

Wow, I am really bad at this!! 😮

@stevenhigby3512 6 ай бұрын

I stay away from the 1924 unless it is graded.

@yotefan8286 6 ай бұрын

As a novice, I predicted the left coin. So many things didn’t look age appropriate.

@lestercoons3962 6 ай бұрын

China bought alot of the old equipment for scrap and took it back to China when the U.S. mints were going with new equipment. They also have been buying alot of rare coins in PCGS, NGC and other slabs. With modern computers they can counterfeit not only the coin but the slab too. Some of these counterfeits even fool the auction houses!

@jamesgoss1860 6 ай бұрын

OK good, my eyes are still good. At a glance, the shiny luster of the left looked fake right away. The hit on the right coin's obverse, I assume from the rim of another $20, told me that one was real. Note to self: only buy these graded.