The Professional Numismatists Guild has recently posted a warning that there are an increasingly significant number of counterfeit coins appearing in the market.

"It is clear there is an increase in the types of fakes sold by unscrupulous dealers," said PNG President Dana Samuelson. "These sales of counterfeit coins are potentially a multi-million dollar problem for the public. There's an old saying that can help buyers avoid problems: If you don't know coins, you better know your dealer."

Samuelson continued: "We conducted an informal inquiry of PNG members and PNG Accredited Precious Metals Dealers (APMD) about what they're encountering now in the marketplace. They have seen everything from counterfeits of vintage rare coins to modern precious metal items. These include fakes of popular century-old U.S. Morgan and Peace design silver dollars to current gold and silver American Eagles, gold U.S. Buffalo coins, silver and gold Chinese Pandas, and Canadian silver and gold Maple Leaf coins. We're also seeing spurious gold and silver ingots."

According to Samuelson, "Professional dealers who look at classic U.S. coins and bullion items all day long are usually not fooled by these spurious items, but to the untrained eye they often look like the real thing. Many of the fakes apparently are originating in China and then offered online by various sellers. It is imperative that collectors, investors and the general public deal only with reputable, knowledgeable experts who offer a guarantee of authenticity."

Max Spiegel is a vice president of Certified Collectibles Group, the parent company of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. In turn, NGC is the official grading service for PNG. Spiegel recently acknowledged the company has examined fake 2012 gold American Eagle $50 coins exhibiting poorly defined facial and hair details on the obverse. The same coins used incorrect lettering fonts for the legends and date. Since these fakes were not composed of gold the metal color was incorrect as well.

Two PNG member dealers recently reported viewing counterfeit 19th century Draped Bust, Seated Liberty and Morgan silver dollars, as well as 20th century Morgan and Peace silver dollars, all being sold in both mainland China and Hong Kong for as little as $1 to $3 at flea markets.

Speaking from personal experience, I recently viewed a counterfeit 1933 $20 Double Eagle and a gold American Eagle dated 1901. Counterfeit Trade dollars are commonplace, typically struck of non-precious metals.

Professional Coin Grading Service has previously reported counterfeit encapsulations meant to mimic their encapsulations. The coins in these fake "slabs" were also bogus.

To read the complete article, see:
PNG warns counterfeit danger is increasing(www.numismaticnews.net/article/png-warns-counterfeit-danger-is-increasing)

To read the PNG press release, see:
Use Caution To Avoid Gold And Silver Counterfeits, Advises Professional Numismatists Guild(http://pngdealer.org/use-caution-to-avoid-gold-and-silver-counterfeits-advises-professional-numismatists-guild/)