Counterfeit (CTF)

In numismatic cataloging, a Counterfeit designation refers to coins that are documented reproductions of genuine U.S. Mint issues. This includes two fundamentally different categories: contemporary counterfeits — produced during the era the coin was current, intended to circulate as money — and numismatic counterfeits — produced to deceive collectors into paying genuine-coin prices for fabricated specimens. Contemporary counterfeits are studied as historical artifacts in their own right, evidence of economic conditions and of the methods illicit coin makers used. Numismatic counterfeits, by contrast, are objects of study for authentication purposes. The NumisDex catalog tracks documented counterfeit varieties to help collectors identify them and understand their characteristics.

How Does It Happen?

Counterfeit, Altered, or Damaged?

Three different things arrive under the same question, and the catalog keeps them apart because the diagnosis differs:

• A counterfeit is fabricated. Nothing about it came from the Mint, so it usually fails a measurement -- weight, diameter, specific gravity, or the magnetic response of a ferrous core.
• An altered coin is a genuine Mint coin modified afterwards: a mint mark added, a date re-cut, a design element filed away. It passes every measurement, because the Mint struck it, and fails under magnification in one small place.
• Post-mint damage is incidental rather than deceptive -- a coin that met a vending machine, a vice or a chemical. Nobody was trying to make it look like anything.

The key dates most often faked -- the 1916-D Mercury dime, the 1909-S VDB cent, the 1914-D cent -- are usually altered rather than counterfeited, because the donor coin is cheap, plentiful and already genuine.

Contemporary Counterfeits

Contemporary counterfeiting — the production of fake coins for use in everyday commerce — has existed as long as coinage itself. In the United States, counterfeiting was especially widespread during several historical periods:

Colonial and Early Republic era (1650s-1820s): Before and after independence, the lack of a strong central monetary authority created opportunities for counterfeiters. The diverse mix of foreign and domestic coins in circulation made detection difficult. Counterfeit British halfpence, Spanish reales, and early U.S. copper coins circulated freely in many regions.

Gold rush era (1849-1860s): The flood of new gold from California and Australia brought a more deceptive method into use. CoinWeek describes counterfeiters taking a genuine coin such as a $10 eagle or $20 double eagle, removing gold from the inside while keeping the faces and edge, and filling the cavity with a cheaper heavy metal, usually platinum, which was then less costly than gold.

Civil War era (1861-1865): The economic disruption of the Civil War, the hoarding of hard money and the introduction of federal paper currency made counterfeit currency a serious problem, and the U.S. Secret Service was created on July 5, 1865, as a Treasury division to suppress counterfeiting.

Small denomination counterfeits: Even low-denomination coins were counterfeited when the metal value of the coin was less than the face value. Cast copies of large cents, half cents, and later copper-nickel and bronze issues circulated in areas where detection capabilities were limited.

Contemporary counterfeit production methods include:

1. Die striking: The counterfeiter produces steel dies (either by engraving or by using a genuine coin as a hub) and strikes blanks on a press. PCGS describes transfer dies, made by pressing a genuine coin into die steel as if it were a hub, as the most common tool of modern counterfeiters; a transfer die copies the host coin's own marks and flaws onto every fake.
2. Casting: Molten metal is poured into a mold made from a genuine coin. Cast counterfeits show characteristic surface porosity, seam lines, and reduced detail compared to struck originals.
3. Electrotyping: Two thin shells — one for obverse, one for reverse — are produced by electrodeposition from a genuine coin. The shells are joined and filled with base metal. Electrotypes show a visible seam at the edge.
4. Spark erosion: A modern technique using electrical discharge to erode die cavities from a master. Produces high-fidelity dies but leaves characteristic surface texture.

Numismatic Counterfeits

Numismatic counterfeits — fakes produced to deceive collectors — target coins whose collector price justifies the production effort. Common targets include:

• Key-date coins (1909-S VDB Lincoln cent, 1916-D Mercury dime, 1893-S Morgan dollar)
• Gold coins of all denominations
• Colonial and early American issues (limited surviving population makes comparisons difficult)
• Popular varieties and errors (doubled dies, overdates, mules)

How to Identify a Counterfeit

Authentication is a multi-layered discipline combining visual inspection, physical measurement, and scientific analysis:

• Weight and dimensions: Genuine U.S. coins were struck to precise weight standards. A coin that deviates significantly from the published weight for its type and date is suspect. Precision scales measuring to 0.01 grams are essential for screening.
• Specific gravity: The specific gravity (density) of a coin reveals its metal composition without destructive testing. Gold, silver, copper, and their alloys each have characteristic densities. A "gold" coin with the density of brass is a counterfeit. Specific gravity testing requires only a precision scale and a cup of water.
• Die characteristics: Genuine U.S. Mint dies produce coins with specific flow line patterns, surface textures, and detail profiles that counterfeit dies struggle to replicate. Under magnification, the luster, cartwheel effect, and die polish lines on a genuine coin differ from the surface of a cast or poorly struck counterfeit.
• Edge examination: The edge of a coin provides critical authentication data. Reeded edges should show uniform, evenly spaced reeding produced by the collar die. Counterfeit reeding is uneven, irregularly spaced, or shows file marks. Cast counterfeits show a seam line at the edge where the mold halves met.
• Diagnostic markers: For specific dates and types, published counterfeit diagnostics identify features unique to known counterfeit die families. PCGS, NGC, and the American Numismatic Association publish guides documenting these diagnostics.
• Magnetic testing: Genuine U.S. gold and silver coins are non-magnetic. Many counterfeit coins use ferrous (iron-based) core metals that respond to a magnet. A rare earth magnet held near the coin's surface detects ferrous content.
• XRF analysis: X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy provides a non-destructive elemental analysis of the coin's surface composition. Major grading services use XRF as a standard authentication tool. It identifies plated counterfeits, wrong-alloy forgeries, and altered compositions.

Visual Authentication Quick Reference

Notable Examples

Henning Nickels (1939-1944 Dates)

Francis LeRoy Henning, a New Jersey machinist, made dies for counterfeit Jefferson nickels dated 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947, and 1953 in the early 1950s; no exact total is known, Wikipedia gives an estimate of 100,000 placed into circulation, and CoinWeek reports that he dumped hundreds of thousands more into waterways when investigators closed in. He was arrested in 1955 and sentenced to three years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The 1944 Henning nickels are the best known because they lack the large mint mark above Monticello that genuine wartime nickels carry (P, D, or S above the dome). Henning struck them in Monel, a copper-nickel alloy, rather than the wartime 35% silver composition, and many weigh about 5.4 grams against the official 5.0 grams. Henning nickels are collected as a historical curiosity.

Omega Counterfeits (Gold)

A family of high-quality gold counterfeits, struck by a maker never identified, that carry a tiny Greek omega (Ω) hidden in the design. They include 1907 High Relief Saint-Gaudens double eagles, with the mark in the eagle's claw on the reverse; $3 gold pieces dated 1874, 1878 and 1882, with the mark in the R of LIBERTY; and $10 Indian eagles dated 1910, 1913 and 1926, with the omega upside down in the R. The fake High Reliefs surfaced in the early 1970s; ANACS authenticator F. Michael Fazzari identified them as counterfeits, and ANACS director Charles Hoskins gave the family its name.

Chinese Mass-Produced Counterfeits

By the late 2000s, workshops in China were producing counterfeit U.S. coins for the collector market in large numbers, especially 19th- and 20th-century silver dollars such as Trade, Seated and Morgan dollars. A 2011 Numismatic News column described a shift from small batches of cast, off-metal pieces to mechanized striking on planchets of the correct composition, reported one factory owner's claim of more than 100,000 forgeries a month, and described a seminar where attendees could not pick the genuine Morgan dollar out of twelve coins of correct weight, diameter and metal.

Collecting Tips

• Third-party grading is mandatory: For any coin with significant value, PCGS or NGC certification provides professional authentication. The cost of grading is negligible compared to the risk of purchasing a counterfeit. Never buy expensive raw (uncertified) coins without expert examination.
• Know the diagnostics: For the specific series you collect, study the published counterfeit diagnostics. The PCGS CoinFacts website, NGC's Counterfeit Detection resources, and the ANA's authentication guides document known counterfeit die families with diagnostic photographs.
• Buy the book before the coin: Invest in reference materials specific to your collecting area. Authentication skill is built through study, and the cost of reference books is far less than the cost of a single expensive counterfeit purchase.
• Contemporary counterfeits are collected: Contemporary counterfeits, especially those from the 18th and 19th centuries, are collected and studied as part of American monetary history.
• Weight testing is your first defense: A precision scale catches many crude counterfeits, though not the best modern fakes, which are struck on planchets of correct weight and metal. Keep a reference chart of standard weights for the denominations you collect and weigh every acquisition.
• Source matters: Buy from established, reputable dealers and auction houses. Dealers with professional reputations stake their livelihoods on selling genuine coins and stand behind their sales. Online marketplace purchases from unknown sellers carry substantially higher counterfeit risk.
• When in doubt, don't buy: If a deal looks too good, or if a coin gives you an uneasy feeling upon examination, walk away. The supply of genuine coins is large enough that passing on one suspect coin costs nothing.