Counterfeits are a scourge on coin collecting. Chinese coins are especially vulnerable, but all collectible coins are susceptible to the dark world of fakeness.
In the images above, a genuine Cheh Kiang 5 cent coin (3.2 candareens) appears with a counterfeit Cheh Kiang 1 dollar coin (7 mace and 2 candareens). How can you tell the difference? Here are few indicators …
Unnatural surfaces - The surfaces of counterfeit coins look different than the surfaces of genuine coins. The longer you collect, the longer you study coins, the more apparent this becomes. In our side-by-side comparison above, the fake’s surfaces look lifeless and dull, while the real coin looks natural and normal. Granted, this is difficult to discern for new collectors, but experience is a wonderful teacher and window shopping for coins is absolutely free. Take every opportunity to carefully study as many coins as you can, even if you don’t buy them.
Mushy inscriptions and devices - Look at the scales on the dragon. Do you see the difference between real and fake? Individual scales are easily separated on the genuine coin, but blur together on the fake. Further, inscriptions on the real coin are sharp and crisp, but they are flat and mushy on the fake. Mushiness is a sure-fire indicator of fakeness.
Don’t look at the pattern - Today’s counterfeiting technology uses advanced methods for duplicating coins. The patterns, both inscriptions and devices, usually match perfectly between real and fake. Of course, if the pattern is wrong, the coin is certainly a counterfeit, but correct patterns do not guarantee authenticity.
Rim and edge problems - Counterfeiters often have trouble making good rims and edges. In our side-by-side comparison, you can see defects in the rim between 11:00 and 1:00 o’clock on the reverse of the fake.
Casting bubbles - One cheap way of making coin copies is to cast them by pouring molten metal into a mold. Real coins, except in a few instances, are struck, not cast. Tell-tale bubbles left over from casting identify a counterfeit.
The magnet test - Silver is not magnetic; it will not stick to a magnet. Steel, on the other hand, is very magnetic. If your “silver” coin sticks to a magnet, it’s fake.
Proper weight - Coin catalogs give precise weights of genuine coins, usually accurate to 0.1 gram. A trip to a jeweler will give you an accurate weight of your suspect coin. Departures of more than 0.25 grams indicate fakeness.
Proper composition - The catalogs also give information about the metallic composition of genuine coins. On your trip to the jeweler, ask him or her to measure the metallic composition of your coin. Be careful about damaging the coin in case it turns out to be genuine. Acid tests or scraping are out of the question. A relatively new techology called X-ray fluorescence allows non-destructive composition testing and, even though XRF analyzers are expensive, jewelers often have them and will use them on your coin.
The coin’s value - You won’t find many counterfeits of 1974 Lincoln cents. Why? Because they are plentiful and cheap. But a 1909S VDB cent is often counterfeited, usually by gluing an “S” mint mark to a 1909 VDB cent. If your coin is not worth much, it’s genuine. The side-by-side comparison in our opening illustration compares a Cheh-Kiang 5 cent coin (the real one) with a Cheh-Kiang 1 dollar coin (the fake). No photographs of a genuine Cheh-Kiang 1 dollar are available. These coins are extremely rare. I looked in the CoinArchivesPro database of 5.9 million coins and couldn’t find one example. Let me know if you can find such a photo. I’d like to see a real one!