Seeing Double? ACEF Reports Fakes

NUMISMATIC NEWS STAFF
APR 13, 2023

Recent examples of fake “certified” Morgan and Peace dollars have been found with the same certification numbers on the encapsulation inserts, cautions the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation (ACEF).

“Unsuspecting buyers may find that the cert number perfectly matches the coin when they look it up on a legitimate authentication company’s website, but counterfeiters are spewing out multiple fakes of some coins and repeatedly using a real cert number in fake holders with fake certification inserts,” said Doug Davis, ACEF anti-counterfeiting director. “Unfortunately, we’re also seeing an increase in the number of ‘encapsulated’ counterfeits without identical cert numbers.”

Recent examples of fakes using the same cert numbers include counterfeit 1881-CC Morgan dollars with fake Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) certification as MS-64 and counterfeit 1921 high relief Peace dollars with fake PCGS certification as MS-64.

Davis said ACEF and its all-volunteer Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (ACTF) recently received an alert from a longtime collector in Oklahoma who saw a suspicious 1911 $10 eagle and 1907 $20 double eagle, both purportedly in PCGS holders, advertised on Craigslist. Subsequent examination by PCGS authenticators indicated both the coins and holders are counterfeit.

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