The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 3, January 18, 2004, Article 9

BAY AREA COUNTERFEITS

  Eric Newman writes: "In your Gene Anderson counterfeit
  story in the last issue, I recall Bay Area counterfeits which
  were the subject of litigation in or near Nebraska about 20
  years ago.  I do not remember any names involved but the
  forgeries were beautiful and were all early American without
  edge decoration. They were dental stone centrifugal casts, I
  believe, rather than spark erosion.  I begged George Hattie
  at the American Numismatic Association to do something
  about it on behalf of the ANA but nothing happened.  The
  suit was settled and the source not disclosed.  I have a large
  file on the entire matter but without any name I cannot locate it.
  You may ask Mr. Anderson whether he can help me help him.
  I would like to know what forged coins Mr. Anderson is
  working with and when he thinks they were made."

  [I asked Eric, "Did the Bay Area counterfeits include Jules
  Reiver's 1794 Dollar?  He showed me two 1794 dollars one
  evening, and they were identical down to the last detail, save
  one: one of them had a flat spot on the edge, which was where
  the sprue was cut off and filed down - that coin was a
  counterfeit taken from the other one."

  Eric replied: "The 1794 US dollar was a centrifugal cast and
  as you point out the port was on the edge. He showed the
  cast to me long before he acquired the original and the fact
  that the cast had a file mark or so was very deceptive.  When
  he saw the original and it had the same file mark as the cast
  then he was really impressed with the quality of forgery.  I have
  no idea where the cast came from and never heard that it was
  a Bay Area product. I will look a little more to see if I can
  find my file but wish I had some name as a clue."

  [The "file mark" Eric refers to is an adjustment mark on the
  planchet, made when a mint worker filed some silver off
  it to bring its weight into tolerance.  The adjustment mark,
  as well as all die characteristics and circulation wear were
  identical on the two pieces, making for a very deceptive
  counterfeit.  The piece came to light through Jack Collins'
  research in the 1794 dollars.  Jack had matched Jules' piece
  via plate photos to a particular auction, but Jules had purchased
  his piece (later found to be the counterfeit) elsewhere.  Several
  years later Jules was able to purchase the genuine coin and
  reunite the pair for study.  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum