Fake Chinese Coins and Dies Purchased by PGCS
Counterfeit Chinese "Ackey" Coins
Coin World reported in its September 8, 2008 issue that PCGS had purchased a selection of counterfeit coins and dies meant to strike fake Chinese coins from an online auction. PCGS sent the photos out to various news media for publication, so I have included them on this page so you can see what is being sold these days by the folks in China.
The coin dies in this photo are all for striking fake Chinese coins. In the Coin World article these photos originally appeared in, Ron Guth, President of PCGS, was quoted as saying, "The dies are reasonably well-made but the counterfeit coins would be detected quickly as fakes by specialists in Chinese coinage." Of course, most of us aren't specialists in Chinese coinage, so the implied meaning here seems to be that the coins would fool most collectors.
The next photo shows a booklet of coins which were sold along with the dies. The booklet is an album of sorts, containing 80 fake coins the sellers mis-identified as "Chinese Ackey" coins. Ackey coins, according to Guth (as quoted in the Coin World article), are silver coins meant for circulation in Africa which were minted in England during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It has been my observation that the Chinese frequently get meanings like this wrong when poor-quality translation is done. The fake coins in the booklet are definitely copies of Chinese coins, but they never circulated anywhere (hopefully!)
I have purchased Chinese-compiled world coin albums that are very similar to this. Although the coins are genuine in the books I have, the plastic is of very low quality and I can smell it across the room. Of course, stinky plastic makes for terrible coin-archiving, since it will quickly encourage the growth of PVC damage, but the Chinese aren't exactly known for high-quality products. Unfortunately, that trend is changing in their numismatic efforts, as this grungy-looking Chinese coin counterfeiting mint produces some fairly high-quality fake coins. They are probably not the same operation that made the coins PCGS purchased in these photos, but who knows?
PCGS Does the Hobby a Public Service
PCGS claims that the reason they bought these coins is that they wanted to do the hobby a service and remove the dies from the marketplace. If I didn't think this weren't a little bit of dissembling, PCGS would finally rise in my esteem, but the fact of the matter is, I think PCGS primarily bought these coins to flaunt around at coin shows, such as the Fall 2008 Long Beach Coin Expo, where they will be on display along with selected specimens from the PCGS Grading Set. If PCGS would establish a regular program of taking this harmful material off the market, I could applaud their efforts a bit more strongly. However, making one token purchase so they can tout their good deed to the media doesn't fool the observer like myself who sees PCGS continue to engage in marketplace-hurting practices like the "First Day of Issue" joke, where dealers can submit their coins ten years from now and still get them designated as a "First Day of Issue."
Learn More About the Counterfeiting Threat
- Inside a Chinese Coin Counterfeiting Ring
- PCGS Warns Against Fake Slabs
- Beware of Counterfeit NGC Slabs
