Coin Collectors Handbook: American Eagle Coins

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Fake Silver Eagles

Two counterfeit American Silver Eagles purchased from LIACOO, a company based in China.

Last month I posted an article about a potential scam by a company named LIACOO selling American Silver Eagle coins from China. I ordered two coins to confirm my suspicion.

THE COINS ARE COUNTERFEIT! FAKES!

I ordered the coins on June 4, the day I posted the article. The coins were shipped from China to California to New Jersey to my office. LIACOO used the services of Newgistics, which is now a subsidiary of Pitney-Bowes. By using a logistics company in this manner, they can hide behind the anonymity of the service.

Contacting Pitney-Bowes is nearly impossible. I left a very public message on Twitter. Let’s see if they respond.

When the coins arrived, I opened the package and started to examine the contents. The coins are in a slab-like holder similar to the Coin World holders but without the Coin World logo. At first glance, they look fine, and then a closer look revealed problems.

My first impression was that there are almost no rims on the coin. A closer look at the obverse, and the font is too thin for the LIBERTY around the coin. Then I turned the coin over to focus on the U in United. It is missing the tail on the right side of the U. I did not need to see any more to be convinced this was a fake coin.

Finally, I removed the coin to weigh it. An American Silver Eagle is supposed to weigh just slightly more than one troy ounce because it is only .999 silver. Since my scale only measures grams to the tenths of ounces, it should have weighed 31.1 grams. It weighed 25 grams.

The coin is not magnetic.

I will investigate further, but I wanted to report my initial findings.

DO NOT BUY CHEAP EAGLES FROM RANDOM WEBSITES!

I bought these coins to prove my point. I knew I was potentially buying fakes. I spent less than $30 for education aids.

Unfortunately, two correspondents wrote to tell me they each bought ten coins from different dealers. They spent $19.95 per coin. Both lost over $200 with the shipping costs.

IF YOU CANNOT IDENTIFY THE DEALER, THEIR EXACT LOCATION, AND THEIR BUSINESS STATUS, THEN DO NOT BUY THEIR COINS!

LIACOO is a scam. It is a company based in China. DO NOT BUT FROM THEM!

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