The following announcement/alert was posted to the PCGS Website :

In recent days, counterfeit coins in counterfeit PCGS slabs have begun to appear on eBay, the online auction site. All of the counterfeit coins/holders seen so far are coming out of China. Alert members of the PCGS Message Boards were the first to notify PCGS of the counterfeit coins/holders.

The coins themselves range from poor-quality counterfeits to well-made fakes. The counterfeit PCGS holders are well-executed, but with minor differences from a genuine holder. PCGS anticipates that authentic coins will eventually be placed into counterfeit PCGS holders in the future, perhaps with elevated grades and/or inappropriate designators (Full Bell Lines, Prooflike, etc.), although none have been seen to date.

The on-line PCGS Certificate Verification is a method for confirming that a particular certificate number matches the information in the PCGS database, but the counterfeiters are aware of this detection method and are now using valid certificate numbers (see below).

PCGS has contacted U.S. governmental agencies, including the FBI, U.S. Customs, the Secret Service, and US Postal authorities, to enlist their assistance in pursuing enforcement or legal remedies against these counterfeiters. Also, PCGS is a member of eBay’s CCW Group, which monitors eBay for fraudulent listings and asks eBay to discontinue auctions of suspicious coins and/or suspend violators.

PCGS has called for eBay to stop accepting listings of any rare coins from Chinese sellers. Ebay recently pulled several auctions of counterfeit coins/holders at the urging of PCGS. (more…)

The Santa Clara Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo to be held on April 10 - 13, 2008, will be displaying the finest 1915-S Panama-Pacific International Exposition 5 coin set known.

The historic coins and accompanying documents related to the famous 1915 exposition will be exhibited by Steven L. Contursi of Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, California.

The display includes the original Shreve & Co. copper and glass frame and original box that housed the coins when they were sold. In addition a $200 invoice to a buyer in Kansas dated July 29, 1915, signed by Farran Zerbe, chief of the Coin and Medal Department for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, along with the June 8, 1940, signed letter and $575 invoice from Texas dealer, B. Max Mehl, who resold the set to a Los Angeles buyer.

The coins in the set in the exhibit are certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation as follows:

• 1915-S silver half dollar, NGC Mint State 66
• 1915-S gold dollar, NGC MS-67
• 1915-S gold $2.50 quarter eagle, NGC MS-67
• 1915-S gold $50 octagonal coin, NGC MS-65
• 1915-S gold $50 round coin, NGC MS-67

“The octagonal $50 denomination gold coin is one of five superb condition Panama-Pacific gold and silver San Francisco Mint coins that were registered by Panama-Pacific officials as the sixth of only 24 complete coin sets produced for the event in 1915,” said Ronald J. Gillio, Expo General Chairman. “The ‘Pan-Pac’ set that will be displayed at the show includes the original $200 invoice, but the coins and their original copper and glass frame are valued today at about $700,000.” (more…)

One of my favorite under-the-radar U.S. gold issues is the 1857-S gold dollar. This is a coin that is really hard to find yet nice examples can still be purchased for less than $2,000. Read on for some “need to know” information about this interesting issue.

San Francisco only produced gold dollars for a total of seven years. The 1856-S is probably the best known of these issues due to its being a popular one-year type but, ironically, it is probably the most common gold dollar from this mint. The 1870-S is the rarest of these in terms of its overall availability but it is actually more obtainable in Uncirculated than generally realized. The dates that are the hardest to locate in higher grades are the 1857-S, 1858-S and 1859-S and it is my belief that the 1857-S may be the toughest of the three.

A total of 10,000 1857-S gold dollars were struck of which I would estimate that 150-200 are known. This date is seldom found below EF40; this is due to the fact that the small size of the gold dollar did not make it a coin that could easily circulate for many years and subsequently become heavily worn. Most of the survivors are in the EF45 to AU55 range. The 1857-S becomes scarce in properly graded AU55 to AU58 and it is quite rare in Uncirculated. (more…)

Public Also Invited to New Mexico Coin Forum on Eve of Launch in Albuquerque

The Land of Enchantment’s new commemorative quarter-dollar will soon enchant the entire nation, when the New Mexico quarter is ceremonially launched into circulation on Monday, April 7th in the Capitol Rotunda in Santa Fe. United States Mint Director Ed Moy will join Governor Bill Richardson in handing out shiny New Mexico quarters to children under 18 who attend the launch. This event is free to the public.

The New Mexico quarter goes into circulation nationwide the same day. After the ceremony, the public may exchange their bills for $10 rolls of New Mexico quarters at the event. The State Capitol Building is the first place in the nation where citizens can be sure of obtaining the new quarters on the first day of circulation.

On the eve of the launch, the public and news media also are invited to a free Coin Collectors Forum from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. (MT) at the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico in Albuquerque, hosted by United States Mint Director Ed Moy. The forum on April 6, 2008, will provide an opportunity for the public to let United States Mint officials know what they’d like to see on U.S. coinage in the future.

The New Mexico quarter is the 47th coin of the United States Mint’s popular 50 State Quarters® Program, because New Mexico was the 47th state to be accepted into the Union in 1912. The coin bears the image of a Zia sun symbol over a topographical outline of the State with the inscription “Land of Enchantment.” The coin also bears the inscriptions “New Mexico” and “1912.” (more…)