Buffalo nickel missing ‘F’ likely counterfeit
I have a 1929 Buffalo nickel which doesn
I have a 1929 Buffalo nickel which doesn?t have the ?F? below the date. What can you tell me about it?
There?s a chance that your coin may be a counterfeit, so you?d better get it checked. A number of old high quality counterfeits of both the 1928 and 1929 dates were noted for the incuse F either being missing or illegible.
Are any of the 1944 nickels without mintmarks genuine?
It?s possible to have one struck with a filled die, but almost all are copper-nickel counterfeits made by Francis L. Henning. These counterfeit nickels are still turning up and are still illegal to own, as is any counterfeit coin. You can dispose of them by sending them to: U.S. Secret Service, Counterfeit Divison, 1800 G St. Washington, DC 20223 .
What is really meant by a copper coin?
A copper coin is one which contains more than 95 percent copper. Anything less is classed as a copper alloy. ?Copper? is often misused or is a mislabeling of a copper alloy.
What is the most commonly faked early American token or coin?
Although there seems to be a number of candidates for this dubious ?honor,? Walter Breen stated that the so-called ?bar cent,? or bar copper, was the one forged the most often. The originals, made by the Wyon Mint in Birmingham, England, have a small spur pointing downward from the left end of the second bar and a small die crack from the sixth to seventh bar near the middle of the coin. Die-struck forgeries do not have these markings, but some cast or electrotype copies may show them. This and just about every other early American rarity were copied profusely right through the mid 1960s.
A 1959 cent with wheat reverse was authenticated by the old ANACS. Isn?t there more to that story?
There is, as reported in ?Insight on Coinage,? published by the Institute for Applied Numismatics and Research in Washington, D.C. F.M. Fazzari, who in the 1970s was one of the authenticators who looked at this particular coin, writing in the June 1991 issue related the story of this particular coin. He admits that it got by them simply because they considered it a common date possibly submitted as a joke by a dealer and failed to connect the date with the incorrect wheat reverse. When the coin was brought to their attention by a reporter it was re-examined and determined to be a very high quality counterfeit.
