Fake/Counterfeit Detection: 1898 Barber Dime

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Author	Replies: 8 / Views: 1,908
CCFPress Press Manager United States 1420 Posts	Posted 02/15/2022 4:31 pm NGC - A close look at Liberty's face reveals this coin's spurious nature. The Barber dime series (1892-1916) has several key dates, mostly near the beginning of its run. However, the 1898 dime is not one of them. In fact, it's one of the easier slots for collectors to fill in the series. So, why would a counterfeiter invest time and energy into forging a commonplace 1898 Barber dime? This coin can still be expected to bring a premium of over $100 in low mint state. The counterfeit dies can be used repeatedly to strike numerous fakes and turn a profit. The genuine 1898 Barber dime (top) and its spurious counterpart (bottom) Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) recently received this example of a purported 1898 Barber dime. It weighs 2.53g, just slightly over the expected 2.5g and well within U.S. Mint tolerance. A collector would need more than a scale to determine authenticity here. Since a Barber dime has the same diameter as a modern Roosevelt dime, a loupe is needed to better examine the coin's design and surface. A closer look shows that the numbers in the date are thinner than those on a genuine example. They also seem to slope slightly downward. The font used for the dates was inconsistent throughout the Barber dime series, so collectors are well-advised to familiarize themselves with whatever date they are looking to purchase. Horizontal lines appear on the devices and are particularly noticeable on Liberty's face. This indicates that the dies were likely forged by a modern computer numeric control (CNC) machine. Such lines would never exist on a genuine U.S. Mint product. Horizontal lines on Liberty's face and thin numerals in the date would never appear on a genuine Barber dime. Finally, the composition is incorrect. A genuine example contains 90-percent silver and 10-percent copper, giving it a melt value of just under $2. This counterfeit is 60-percent copper, 24-percent zinc, 15-percent nickel and 1-percent other elements. Read More: Counterfeit Detection Series Check out 1898 Philly Barber Dimes on ebay. Report this Post to the Staff

Coinfrog Bedrock of the Community United States 94367 Posts	Posted 02/15/2022 4:37 pm Most interesting, thanks! Report this Post to the Staff
macmercury Pillar of the Community United States 5716 Posts	Posted 02/15/2022 5:51 pm It's the 1% of other elements I'm afraid off! Report this Post to the Staff
kenwright396 Pillar of the Community United States 1172 Posts	Posted 02/16/2022 06:40 am Great analysis, thanks for sharing. Report this Post to the Staff
kbbpll Pillar of the Community United States 4233 Posts	Posted 02/16/2022 12:20 pm I do love the detailed diagnostics, but it's a one-look fake. The coin is Obverse 2 and Reverse 3, neither of which existed before 1901. Seems like the TPGs should start with attribution and go from there, but they mostly don't. Report this Post to the Staff
burfle23 Valued Member United States 482 Posts	Posted 02/16/2022 6:34 pm Curious what happened with the coin from there, and did NGC write an article on it? The analysis of the "fabric" of the counterfeit is spot on, but attribution should have given it away 1st as kbbpll stated! Edited by burfle23 02/16/2022 6:35 pm Report this Post to the Staff
NumisEd Pillar of the Community United States 4375 Posts	Posted 02/16/2022 6:53 pm The thickness of the coin should also have been a giveaway. Report this Post to the Staff
Tenring Valued Member United States 72 Posts	Posted 02/17/2022 4:23 pm Thanks for posting this, and your link for the Counterfeit Detection Series. I had no idea there are so many... Report this Post to the Staff
kbbpll Pillar of the Community United States 4233 Posts	Posted 02/18/2022 11:16 am To better help members identify these fakes, here are the original images annotated to show the pickup points for Obv1 versus Obv2, and Rev1 versus Rev3. Most of the 1895-O fake dimes I've seen also have the wrong types. Any coin showing ALL of the PUPs circled on the counterfeit image with a date prior to 1901 will be fake. A caveat to be aware of is that Rev2, introduced in 1900, has the same PUPs as Rev3 but is missing the extra fold of the "thick right ribbon". Reverse transition varieties exist for 1899-P, 1900-S, 1901 (all mints), and 1902-S through 1905-S, so those years require further inspection. Genuine: Counterfeit: Report this Post to the Staff
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