The US Mint is meticulous in its craftsmanship and proud of the inherent quality of its product. The Mint treats its dies to give them characteristics that are nearly impossible to reproduce by a counterfeiter. This characteristic is called mint luster. Counterfeit coins almost always lack luster. That's where the expression lackluster came from.
1. Altering a coin with the intent to deceive is considered to be counterfeit even though the coin itself is real. There are certain popular coins to alter in order to make them more valuable. Adding or removing mint marks or date changes are the most common alterations.
Some frequently seen altered counterfeits are: 1901-S VDB Lincoln cent, 1916-D Mercury dime, 1893-S Morgan dollar, 1955 Doubled-Die Lincoln cent, 1907 St.Gaudens Double Eagle, 1804 Bust dollar, and 1856 Flying Eagle cent. If you own any of these coins check closely for alterations.
2. Often though not always, counterfeit coins have soft, undefined features. They look similar to worn coins. In fact, worn versions of valuable coins are among the more popular counterfeits. I have a coin copy that I know isn't real and to look at it, I can't easily tell the difference from a real one. There is however a perceptible difference in its weight. Fakes will usually weigh significantly lighter than the real version.
3. I would be remiss, if I didn't tell you about another infallible test. That's the magnet test. Take a strong magnet and hover it near the coin. If the coin sticks it's absolutely fake. Most counterfeiters are too smart to make their products so easily detectable, so you'll rarely find a magnetic coin. But if you do, there won't be any question about it.
4. Counterfeits rarely pass the "ring" test. A struck coin will "ring" when tapped or dropped. If you support a coin in its center with your index finger, and tap it lightly near the edge with a plastic pen or other hard object, it will produce a high pitched, sustained "tinggg". This works wonderfully for large coins such as silver dollars. It isn't useful at all, for smaller coins such as dimes.
This is the safest way to conduct the ring test on good coins that you don't want to chance denting or nicking. A low pitch "tink" immediately alerts me that all is not well with my new coin.
If a coin looks suspicious on the initial evaluation, there are more thorough visual inspections you can perform on it, as well as tests you can perform which will either positively acquit the suspect or convict it. Those tests will be covered in future articles.
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