How many altered coins do you have in your collection? Many collectors never know until they start selling their collections. In this article, we will share with you some of the coins that collectors have brought to us for authentication.
altered coin: a coin that has been changed in any way to make it appear more valuable.
American Numismatic Association: the leading organization for collectors of U.S. coins.
A.N.A.: abbreviation for the American Numismatic Association.
Altered Coins
Altered coins are genuine coins made at an official government mint, but have been altered to resemble another coin. Typically, a much more valuable coin is represented as an altered coin.
Altered Coin
A coin that has a date, mint mark, or other feature that has been changed, added, or removed, to give the appearance of a more rare or valuable issue.
Ancients ...
Early altered coins (1850s-1913)
The altering of coins dates to the 18th century or earlier. Beginning in the 1850s, the most common form of coin alteration was the "potty coin," engraved on Seated Liberty coins (half dime through trade dollar).
Doctored/Altered Coins
This is very difficult to detect and can even fool the best of coin experts. When buying any coin of value, buy from reputable dealers.
Counterfeit and altered coins slabbed by major certification services are not unknown but are uncommon. The authenticity of a coin may be guaranteed by the company that slabbed it.
Altered - An altered coin has been tampered with in some way after leaving the Mint, generally for the purpose of increasing its value to collectors.
A counterfeit or altered coin.
field
The portion of a coin where there is no design element.
A counterfeit or altered coin.
Fantasy piece
A term applied to coins struck at the whim of Mint officials. Examples include the various 1865 Motto and 1866 No Motto coins.
Altered Date - An altered coin is a coin that has been tampered with in some way after leaving the Mint, generally for the purpose of increasing its value to collectors.
The acceptance of altered coins in the market place has created an interesting market effect - that of the lack of price difference between certain grades for commonly traded coins.
fake Slang for a counterfeit or altered coin. fantasy piece A term applied to coins struck at the whim of Mint officials. Examples include the 1868 large cent Type of 1857 and the various 1865 Motto and 1866 No Motto coins.
Slang for a counterfeit or altered coin.
Falus
Early Islamic copper coin. The name derives from the follis, a copper coin of the Late Roman and Byzantine empire.
Fake - A counterfeit or altered coin.
Fantasy - An object having the physical characteristics of a coin, issued by an agency other than a governing authority yet purporting to be issued by a real or imaginary governing authority as a coin.
If you suspect you have a counterfeit or altered coin, compare it with a genuine one of the same value. If it is above 5 cents in value, it should have corrugated outer edges, or "reeding." Reeding on genuine coins is even and distinct.
If you find a 1933 penny, it is highly likely to be an altered coin which originally had a more common date, or is from Ireland or the Channel Islands! ...
Johnson, recognized it as an altered coin. Bolender was fooled because the counterfeiter, along with expertly altering the date, had expertly tooled the stars, ...
Altered - Any coin which has been physically altered an an attempt to enhance the look of the coin. Artificial Toning, Whizzing, changing mintmarks/dates are examples of altered coins.
Counterfeit, Mis-struck, and Unofficial U.S. Coins: A Guide for the Detection of Cast and Struck Counterfeits, Electro-types, and Altered Coins
Don Taxay
Arco Pub. Co., 1963 ...
In a negative sense, the surfaces on repaired and altered coins sometimes are burnished by various methods. In some instances, a high-speed drill with some type of wire brush attachment is used to achieve this effect.
In a negative sense, the surfaces on repaired or altered coins may be burnished by mechanical or chemical methods. For example, a high-speed drill with a wire brush attachment is used to achieve this effect.
If it doesn't stick to a magnet, the odds are still much better that it is a fake or an altered coin than the real thing. You are going to have to invest some money to have it authenticated.
Particularly unscrupulous sellers will go out of their way to over-grade coins to dupe novice coin collectors who are unable to grade coins. Even worse is when counterfeit or cleaned or altered coins are passed off as genuine or non problem coins.
 See also: Altered, Coin, Collector, Numismatic, Mint
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