Coin Collecting Reference Books

Thanks, swamperbob. That's quite a library! Mike

Hi, swamperbob!

That's a truly amazing collection in itself. Do you have any references on Chinese silver dollars (in any language)?

Regards,
yoyo

Thank you, tomo! I'll keep an eye out for it.

Thank you, coinsnpaper!

Curtis, it is always best to know exactly what a coin is before you make a bid. That also goes for sellers. Don't trust just anyone with your money - make sure they have essentially perfect feedback. Also e-mail them about return policy. Once you decide to go with slabbed coins - make sure that the third party grader is legitimate. Most problems arise from false slabs not re-used slabs. I don't believe I have even encountered a re-used slab. I guess it would be possible but tampering would most likely be visible under a microscope. I have seen fake slabs and even counterfeit coins slabbed as real coins but NEVER a reused slab. Perhaps someone else is familiar with re-used slabs. I would really like to hear about those.

But your question is how to detect "counterfeit Hong Kong Trade dollars." The answer is the same way that you detect all other forgeries.

First: How were originals made? This is actually rather critical, because some coins were cast or made on cast planchets. If you don't know exactly what the real coin looks like - you are likely to be fooled by fakes.
Second: How is the coin in question made? Is it correct? Can you tell how it was made? If you can't you need to learn.

The problem with slabbed coins is that you can no longer handle the coin and actually examine it. The edge is not visible after the coin is slabbed. Many fakes are diagnosed from the appearance of the edge. You can't check the ring, the weight, the Specific Gravity or the actual alloy. You can't check to see if the coin was mined, etc., etc.

Personally, I don't like slabbed coins. I have actually seen coins before submission that I knew were forgeries (that I personally examined and as diagnosed as forgeries) - that have been encapsulated as REAL. In discussing the results of these "tests" with the head grader of the company involved, I was surprised to learn that on "lower value" (in this case under $100) items the graders RARELY check the edges.

The only thing I like about the third party graders is that I often get to buy rejects from dealers who need to recover part of their investment on fakes. They are a great source of counterfeits.



I am new to the forum and looking for information on how to detect counterfeit Hong Kong Trade dollars. Most of what I have found on Internet searches has been for US Trade dollars. I have been interested in Trade dollars since I started collecting silver coins a few years ago. I see so many obvious fakes on ebay that I would not buy one there unless certified and slabbed. Then I started hearing more and more about scammers putting fakes inside genuine slabs. Hope to get some useful tips here.

I don't know that reference book. I use "Las Monedas Espanolas" by Clemente Adolfo and Juan Cayon also published in 1998 with 1200 pages - it covers all denominations and mints from 411 AD to the 1998 Euro coins. It is also priced in Pesetas. But it does sound similar in layout to yours.

For Spanish Counterfeits I have "Catalogo General de la Moneda Falsa Espanola" by Luis Coronado published in 2000 with 228 pages - it covers 1469 to 1995.

Both books are in Spanish so I use Babelfish to translate. It is a slow go but works ok.

In my experience, one of the best books on the forgery of coins is Charles M. Larson's recent book "Numismatic Forgery" published by Zyrus Press, 2004. This book primarily addresses how counterfeits are made. But knowing how things are made can help you spot errors when you actually encounter the coins.

You can also refer to the PCGS grading guide for an overview - "The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection" (2nd ed.), text by John W. Dannreuther, edited by Scott Travers. Published 2004.

These books are usually available on line or on ebay. Here is one place that sells both. http://www.telesphere.com/books/grading.html

The subject of forgery can not be dealt with too lightly because over simplification leaves a lot of misunderstandings. There are also a great number of disputes over counterfeits and many people will never agree on certain definitions.

There are many resource websites that provide more tailored information that you can also read up on. The following site has numerous links to other helpful sites (not all ancient ones).

http://rg.ancients.info/guide/counterfeits.html

I hope this helps. If you have any specific questions just ask.

Don't plan to - not right yet anyhow.