My Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins devotes almost 20% of the book to 25 and 50 Cent counterfeits. Wonderful write-ups on dies, planchets, etc. They even sourced the top two gunslingers; HK Replica Coin Co. and Big Tree Coin Co.
It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so. Mark Twain
Those coin presses are used in the Big Tree Factory and were given to the Chinese Government by the US Mint as a goodwill gesture, who promptly sold them to the counterfeiters. Think about that, a company using the original presses to strike forgeries on an industrial scale with the approval, protection and complicity of the government. Scared? You ought to be.
It's a badly put together rewrite of an original article by a numismatic journalist which appeared around 2008 (same pictures I think). I didn't feel like wading through 24 pages of click bait but the original was in two parts, the second being the results of the reporter presenting several fakes at a Chicago Numismatic conference where the gathered experts scored dismally in identifying them. Since the appearance of the original article, they've had almost a decade to refine their product and fakes have grown in number and sophistication.
Until the predatory Chinese regime can be held accountable for the practices it allows, high end numismatics is a mugs game. You can't rely on plastic slabs to protect you and clearly experts are not quite as knowledgeable as their sales pitches pretend. I can't spot them, you can't spot them, and neither can they. Anyone buying top tier coins without provenance in the current climate is throwing money away.
Shun anyone who you know to be importing this junk and don't be afraid to name and shame them. They are the lowest form of scum. Boycott Chinese made products until their government acts responsibly. WalMart executives might have to make do with just one private island each but are you really saving anything by buying a cheap toaster that you'll be throwing away after three months, lead painted toys or drywall that poisons you while you sleep?
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
