Buying collectible coins gives a buyer a big risk of getting fake coins, coins that people changed, or coins that have the wrong value, so stopping these scams needs a careful method, checking the coin's real features and using a coin values checker like a Coin ID Scanner.
Coin Feature | Real | Fake |
Surface Look | Smooth and shiny, showing flow lines moving from the middle | Rough like orange skin, having many small holes from air bubbles |
Details | Very clear, showing sharp edges and correct shapes | Soft and rounded, sometimes having wrong shapes and looking fuzzy |
Edge Marks | Clean and sharp, showing the coin was cut correctly by the machine | Rough and often having extra metal or a line from the two parts of the mold |
Simple Types of Coin Scams
To check things well, it is good to know the main ways people try to scam others:
A fake coin is a coin that looks exactly like a real one, and people make these bad coins using simple methods like pouring metal or hitting the metal with a stamp.
Casting: Making a bad coin by putting hot, liquid metal into a shape taken from a real coin, this process often makes the coin's surface look rough, missing the clear lines that real coins have, and often having the wrong weight because the metal mix is not correct.
Fake Stamping: Making a coin using bad metal stamps that look like the real ones, showing features like details that look too sharp, wrong letter shapes, or marks from tools the bad maker used on the stamp.
Making Them Look Better
Changing a real coin makes its price higher or makes it look like a very rare coin, and people do this by changing small parts of the coin.
Drawing new numbers or letters on the coin, needing a close look under a small magnifier to find where the old metal was taken away and new metal was put on.
Taking away scratches or bad spots to make the coin grade higher, making the coin's old color look broken and having thin lines where the cleaning tool moved.
Putting fake color on the coin to hide bad parts or make the coin look nice, but this color does not look real and can cover simple coin problems.
Scams with Grading and Papers
Giving a coin a higher grade than it should have or using fake plastic holders with false papers are also bad ways to scam, having the buyer pay more money for a lower quality coin.
Fake Slabs: Using plastic boxes that look like the real ones from big grading companies, but having fake paper labels inside with wrong numbers.
Taking a good coin out of its real plastic box and putting a fake coin or a lower-grade coin inside, closing the box again, and selling it as a certified good coin.
Simple Ways to Check Coins Yourself
Before using digital tools, you must do a first check using good tools to measure the coin very carefully.
Checking Weight and Size
The coin's correct weight and size are the first signs that it is real, especially for coins made of expensive metals, making these simple checks very important for all coin buyers.
Finding the Weight: Using a scale that can measure very small parts of a gram, finding a large difference from the real coin's weight showing the coin might be fake or was changed by someone.
Finding the Size: Using a special ruler that measures to a very small size, checking the coin's roundness and thickness, showing if the coin was badly made or poured, and checking different parts of the coin to be sure the size is the same everywhere.
Checking Metal
Use a strong magnet to see if the coin is moving, knowing that most real gold, silver, and copper coins do not stick to the magnet, so if the piece sticks, it means there is too much iron inside — a clear sign of a fake token.
Looking Close
Due to the magnifying glass you can examine details of the coin that are not visible to your eye, and it shows tiny markings that prove that the coin is real or fake.
Under the magnifier, poured coins show a rough surface like orange skin, missing the lines made by the coin press, and sometimes having small lines around the edges where the mold was.
The coins, made by a big press, show flow lines, which are very small lines moving from the center of the coin to the flat parts, and if these lines are not there, the coin might be a bad poured copy.
Real patina has a deep and uneven look, becoming a part of the coin's surface, while fake old color looks just on top, often hiding bad spots, with any changed part showing marks that break the color.
What About Coin ID Scanner
New coin apps use computers and smart ways of seeing to check coins automatically, helping you save time and getting better, more certain answers than a person can give.
The system works by following many steps, using smart rules that make the check faster and more fair than doing it by hand.
Taking the Picture: It gets a good, clear picture of the coin, making the color and size correct to remove problems from the camera used, making the picture ready for the next steps.
Finding the Coin: Smart rules find the coin in the picture, showing its shape and edges, separating the coin clearly from the background.
Finding the Coin’s Marks: The app finds all the key coin marks, checking the coin's roundness and center position, reading the letters, numbers, and dates, and looking at the surface shape if the picture is good enough.
Deep Learning
The main part of these new checking systems is a smart computer brain, which learned from many millions of pictures of real and fake coins, giving very good results.
The AI compares the coin's marks with the millions of real coins in its memory, giving the coin's name, country, value, year with a number that shows how sure the computer is.
It looks at the very small surface of the coin, trying to find small things that look wrong, showing marks of being poured and finding spots where the coin was changed, proving it is not real.
The system can find the tiny marks on the coin that came from the press stamp, comparing them to marks on other real coins made with the same stamp, confirming if the coin is real or not.
Coin ID Scanner Pros
Taking away the buyer's own ideas when checking the coin.
Checking the coin right away by looking at a big list of coins from all over the world.
Seeing very small problems that a person cannot see, needing a close look under a magnifier.
Checking the Plastic Box and Papers
Coins in slabs also need a check, because the box itself can be fake or changed, so you must be careful even with these coins.
Every big grading company has a website where you can type in the number on the paper, making sure the number is real, and checking that the coin's picture and information on the website match the coin you have.
You must look at the plastic box very closely, checking the edges where the box is closed, finding bad spots, new glue, or edges that look different from a real box.
Finding and checking the safety stickers, small writing, or special light marks that the grading companies use to keep the boxes safe from bad people.
Checking Where the Coin Came From
Checking the coin technically must come with checking the seller and using safe ways to pay for the coin, making sure your money is safe.
It is best to buy from big auction houses or shops that sell many coins, having a long good history, because buying from a small, unknown person has a much higher chance of getting a fake coin.
Looking at the seller's good and bad notes from other buyers, making sure the seller sold other expensive coins and that no one said the seller sold fake coins before.
Having clear written rules that let you send the coin back and get your money, especially if you find out the coin is fake, giving you enough time to check the coin with a special expert.
Using payment ways that protect the buyer, keeping the money safe until you get the coin and check that it is real, so you must never send money straight to the seller's bank account or use ways that cannot give your money back.