The Professional Numismatists Guild has issued the following consumer protection advisory about altered coins being sold as genuine Washington dollar plain-edge errors.
Some 2007-dated Presidential dollar coins, deliberately altered after leaving the U.S. Mint to remove the edge lettering, including the motto, ?In God We Trust,? are being offered to unsuspecting buyers in online auctions and at swap meets.
The Mint mistakenly released to circulation thousands of genuine coins without the edge lettering, but the PNG cautions that worthless, fake versions now are appearing in the marketplace, especially Internet auctions.
?The edge lettering on some perfectly made coins is being intentionally removed in machine shops to fraudulently make the coins appear to have a plain edge without the date, without the mintmark and without the mottoes, IN GOD WE TRUST AND E PLURIBUS UNUM,? said Fred Weinberg, a former President of the Professional Numismatists Guild. ?It?s the wild, wild West out there online, and it?s probably going to get worse before it gets better.
?You run the risk of paying $100 or more for an altered coin that?s only worth one dollar. Unless you know how to determine authenticity, the coin should be certified by a nationally recognized authentication company or you should know the reputation of the professional dealer you?re buying it from.?
The normal weight of the George Washington dollar coins is 8.1 grams and the diameter is 26.5 millimeters. Any plain-edge coins that weigh less than 8 grams or with a diameter of 26 millimeters or less should be viewed with skepticism. They may have been deliberately trimmed to remove the edge lettering, said a PNG spokesperson.
?The altered coins are deliberately machined down until the lettering on the edges disappears. It?s also possible for the incused lettering to be filled in, then re-plated or re-colored, and then the altered coin is deceitfully sold as a genuine Mint-made error,? Weinberg explained.
Weinberg also cautions consumers to be wary of sale pitches for so-called ?upside-down? lettering errors.
?The relationship is random between the edge lettering and the ?heads? side on the Presidential dollars. Some coins have the letters reading ?up,? and some are ?upside-down? when you view the front of the coin. These are not inverted-lettering errors, only a random method of placing the edge-lettering on the coins. Half the coins will have the letters up, and half will appear upside down.?
For additional information, contact the PNG at 3950 Concordia Lane, Fallbrook, California 92028. phone: (760) 728-1300. Web site: http://www.PNGdealers.com. E-mail: info@PNGdealers.com.
