A fake coin in a fake holder has been called frighteningly deceptive by Dwight Manley, owner of Fullerton Coins & Stamps in Fullerton, Calif., and managing partner of the California Gold Marketing Group, who assisted a quarter-century ago in breaking up a counterfeit coin and counterfeit holder scheme.
A 2005-dated South African quarter-ounce Krugerrand supposedly graded Proof-70 by Numismatic Guarantee Corporation is not genuine and neither is the holder.
Worse, the description of the coin and the coin certification number matched what NGC had originally handled.
In a Nov. 10 statement, Manley said, “The fake was purchased on Oct. 23, 2015, by a knowledgeable employee of Fullerton Coins & Stamps over the counter from a semi-regular customer. Before making the purchase, the employee checked the NGC website to see if the certification number and coin description matched. They did: 3676849-006.”
But something was amiss.
Manley said, “I recently examined the coin, and it just didn’t look quite right. I did a side-by-side, inch-by-inch comparison between the encapsulated coin the store purchased and the obverse and reverse photos on the NGC website. The reproduction of the NGC hologram on the fake is almost dead on the same; however, there is one distinct difference between fake and genuine on the left side of the front insert label. On the fake coin, the circle in the NGC logo (an encircled balance scale) goes almost entirely around the P in the grade PF 70. On the genuine coin’s label, the P is outside the logo circle.
“An amazing amount of effort obviously went into creating a fake coin and a fake holder with a cert number and description that match a genuine coin. I’ve notified NGC, but in the meantime, I caution collectors and dealers to watch out for any similar, deceitful and dangerous counterfeits.”
This article was originally printed in Numismatic News.
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• Come on down to the Chicago International Coin Fair in Rosemont, Ill. on April 14 to 17, 2016 to see impressive world coins, meet new collectors and participate in Heritage Auction’s fantastic coin auction.
• The Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 8th Edition is your guide to images, prices and information on the century's coins.
