Is this a Fake Coin

Dikissi · Joined: 04 Jan 2010 Posts: 2

I have a tweny dollar silver coin that looks like the real thing except that the word COPY is found under a flying eagle. The reverse shows a walking Liberty holding a torch and a branch and the Roman Numerals MCMVII.

omahaorange · Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 602

Post a picture if you can. What it sounds like is a $20 Saint Gaudens US Gold Eagle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gold_Eagle

A similar coin was minted in silver (the Americam Silver Eagle) but it has a face value of only $1.00.

The word "COPY" is the giveaway to this not being genuine. It is legal for private companies to strike look-a-like coins, but by law the word "COPY" must appear on the coin (or bill).

So yes, what you have is a fake, though not necessarily counterfeit. Private mints use this type of coin to sell to the public, though I'm convinced they are more of a scam than an investment. Here is another example:

https://www.50dollarbuffalo.com/?mid=709638

This is not a genuine coin, but a copy of the actual one minted in gold by the US Mint:

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/buffalo24k/index.cfm?flash=yes

The one in the first link is $19.95, and is simply clad (plated, if you will) in gold, while the second one is solid gold, and will cost you about $2000.

Dikissi · Joined: 04 Jan 2010 Posts: 2

You are right. It looks like the gold coin found in your wikipedia reference only in silver. But it has a face value of $20. Over the eagle is the United States of America, Twenty Dollars.
Why was it minted and is it a souvenir?

omahaorange · Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 602

In a nutshell, to make money. Gold and silver coins, like the Eagles (which are struck on solid gold or silver planchets), are minted by the US Government so average Joes like us can own bullion. They sell these coins based on the spot price of the metal, plus a premium so Uncle Sam makes some money (keep in mind, the US Mint is a for-profit business). This started with the South African Kuggarand in the eighties (I think). With the price of precious metals at an all-time high, private mints (like the one in the second link) look to cash in on the "investment" craze. So they make coins from a base metal and plate them with a small amount of precious metal, and then market them, hoping unsuspecting consumers jump on the chance to buy gold and silver at ridiculously low prices. The spot price for gold (at this time) is $1095.20/ounce. The ad for the "gold" buffalo states it is clad in 31 mg of pure gold. there are roughly 31,000 mg to a troy ounce (how gold is measured). So there is a little over a dollar's worth of gold on that coin. They do not say in the ad what the base metal of the coin is, so I would guess it's not a precious metal. And it's essentially a fake, so it's not even worth the face value of $50. See where I'm going with this. But of the 260 or so million people in the US, how many are actually going to analyze it this way. More than enough won't, so this company makes money. Or, like P.T. Barnum said, ...

coinfalcon · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 4

Fake. By law copy must be put on replica coinage.

omahaorange · Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Posts: 602

Absolutely correct. The Hobby Protection Act requires the word "COPY" be placed on the coin.:

http://www.collectors.org/Library/Hobby_Protection_Act.asp

"Sec. 304.6 Marking requirements for imitation numismatic items.

(a) An imitation numismatic item which is manufactured in the United States, or imported into the United States for introduction into or distribution in commerce, shall be plainly and permanently marked "COPY".
(b) The word "COPY" shall be marked upon the item legibly, conspicuously, and nondeceptively, and in accordance with the further requirements of these regulations.
(1) The word "COPY" shall appear in capital letters, in the English language.
(2) The word "COPY" shall be marked on either the obverse or the reverse surface of the item. It shall not be marked on the edge of the item.
(3) An imitation numismatic item of incusable material shall be incused with the word "COPY" in sans-serif letters having a vertical dimension of not less than two millimeters (2.0 mm) or not less than one-sixth of the diameter of the reproduction, and a minimum depth of three-tenths of one millimeter (0.3 mm) or to one-half (\1/2\) the thickness of the reproduction, whichever is the lesser. The minimum total horizontal dimension of the word "COPY" shall be six millimeters (6.0 mm) or not less than one-half of the diameter of the reproduction.
(4) An imitation numismatic item composed of nonincusable material shall be imprinted with the word "COPY" in sans-serif letters having a vertical dimension of not less than two millimeters (2.0 mm) or not less than one-sixth of the diameter of the reproduction. The minimum total horizontal dimension of the word "COPY" shall be six millimeters (6.0 mm) or not less than one-half of the diameter of the reproduction
"

If you look closely at the coin in the second link of my last post, you can make out "COPY" in the braid of the Indian's hair.

SuperCoins · Joined: 26 Mar 2010 Posts: 69

***This post has been edited because the content violates the forum rules***

Please read the rules before posting. What you proposed is illegal. Period. End of discussion.

DollarMan · Joined: 06 Apr 2010 Posts: 5

[quote="Dikissi"]I have a tweny dollar silver coin that looks like the real thing except that the word COPY is found under a flying eagle. The reverse shows a walking Liberty holding a torch and a branch and the Roman Numerals MCMVII.[/quote]

If the word "COPY" is on the coin, it's cheap imitation to the real thing. Worthless!