Although counterfeiting techniques keep improving, mintmarks are still added to coins using the same two methods. Skip Fazzari describes how to spot these fakes.

When many things get old, they are discarded and new things, perhaps better made, take their place. Not so with old counterfeit and altered coins. Although some fakes are taken off the market each year and are either put into reference collections or destroyed, others remain to plague another generation and are passed on to one unsuspecting collector after another.

Most will agree that coin alterations consist of the addition or removal of parts of a coin’s design. Interestingly, although techniques of fakery have improved over the years, a majority of the coins with added mintmarks are still made by two methods. For the most common type of alteration, a numeral or letter is applied directly to the surface of the host coin. The micrograph taken at 20x shows an example of a coin altered in this way. In this case, a “D” mintmark has been placed on the reverse of a genuine 1916 Mercury dime to produce a coveted 1916-D coin. Read Full Article

The American Numismatic Association has received a $447,095 donation to support educational programs and produce a much-needed consumer awareness booklet with helpful information on coin collecting.

The donation is from the settlement of a class action lawsuit, Francisco v. Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, concerning First Strikes designation. While admitting no wrongdoing or liability, NGC settled the case and discontinued the use of First Strikes, believing that controversy from the lawsuit would not be in the best interests of the hobby.

The parties, with the court’s approval, agreed that the lion’s share of the proceeds go to the ANA to further support its mission of collector education.

“This donation allows the ANA to implement new strategies as well as enhance its delivery of numismatic education to a vastly larger audience,” said ANA President Barry Stuppler. “We are obviously greatly appreciative of NGC’s commitment to best practices in our hobby, and to its efforts to support education, which is a fundamental value of our Association.”

“The ANA is the hobby’s premiere organization, and no one is better at developing and delivering educational programs,” said NGC Chief Executive Officer Steve Eichenbaum. “Coin collecting is a very complex hobby and everyone benefits when collectors are knowledgeable and well educated.”

Stuppler said the ANA would soon begin work on an educational consumer awareness booklet that will include consumer tips as well as basic information on grading, authentication and conservation. The booklet also will discuss the minting process and what constitutes a “first-strike” coin, plus feature a rich frequently- asked-questions section as well as a comprehensive listing of helpful resources for collectors. (more…)

Jay Turner, NGC Grader and Attributor, examines the latest Silver Panda counterfeit that has been uncovered within the numismatic world and describes the various ways one can spot it.

The Chinese Panda has only been around since 1982 but, surprisingly, it has become one of the most widely counterfeited World coins. In previous articles, we wrote about counterfeit 2001-D and 2003 Silver Pandas. In this article, we’ll examine the diagnostics of a counterfeit 1995 “Large Twig” Silver Panda.

NGC certifies a lot of Panda coins. The series is as popular as ever with collectors. It’s especially popular among collectors participating in the NGC Registry. Each piece that NGC certifies is not only graded but checked for authenticity. Recently, a counterfeit 1995 “Large Twig” Silver Panda with unusual finish and tooling marks was submitted for grading.

In 1995, the Chinese Mints put out different varieties of Panda designs. The Mint State issues were struck at two different mints with subtly varying designs or varieties. The Shanghai Mint issue featured a panda with a “Large Twig” branch extending upwards from its hand. The Shenyang Mint had a “Small Twig” version with no branch extending beyond the panda’s hands. The Shenyang Mint or “Small Twig” also comes in Large and Small Date sub-varieties. To date, NGC has not received any submissions of counterfeit 1995 “Small Twig” Silver Pandas, and the “Large Twig” described here is the only counterfeit we have received that is dated 1995. Read Full Article 

NGC has updated the hologram appearing on the standard NGC encapsulation. The new hologram includes the Web address, www.ngcterms.com, an informational site which describes the terms of NGC certification and provides general information about coin grading.

The new NGC terms Web site is non-commercial, has no advertisements, and does not link to any off-site commercial Web pages, including NGC’s main site. Steven Eichenbaum, NGC CEO, comments, “This new Web site increases consumer access to concise and accurate information about NGC’s services. NGC always makes every effort to provide essential information to the broadest possible audience. We’re very proud to provide resources like this as part of our commitment to industry leading certification services and our associations with the PNG and the ANA.” Read Full Article