Jack Young’s Fun with Fakes- 1916-D Counterfeit in a Counterfeit PCGS Slab

By Jack D. Young, Early American Coppers (EAC), and the Dark Side Group ……

This installment’s star is a counterfeit 1916-D Mercury Dime in a fake PCGS slab and was found in a review of a couple of bad, apparently linked eBay sellers.

The certification number on the label was active on the PCGS website. While there is no TrueView image available, the site does provide a listing of past auction appearances.

The obverse of this “1916-D Mercury Dime” is a little scary, as it appears that the counterfeiters tried to make it look like a genuine example, even scratching it and spot-toning it—but it’s not a match!

And a comment from a friend on the “D” of this one:

So, a bad coin and holder. I first notified the seller (huffordcabinetco) … and then reported the listing to eBay. The eBay item number was 157035606409

After confirming with the Bay that the coin was legitimate, I shared the listing on my Facebook page, the PCGS forum, and CoinTalk, urging others to report it. Despite numerous reports, the listing remained active, highlighting, in my opinion, eBay’s decline and the growing audacity of unscrupulous sellers.

Yeah, I would call it “artificial” intelligence…

I wasn’t done. I tried to bring more folks in. I sent a note to the President of the Anti-Counterfeiting Education Foundation, but it seems even they lack the influence to hold eBay accountable. Their response merely acknowledged that “eBay has been awful lately.” Well said, but frustratingly insufficient.

And then an interesting twist—a search through more bad listings on the internet surfaced this fake Morgan Dollar. Listed as a 1893-CC and CAC, it sports a fake PCGS label and added CAC bean, possibly photoshopped.

Interestingly, the label’s barcode is the same as the 1916-D Mercury Dime that is the subject of this article and takes one to the same 1893-S PCGS Morgan Dollar.

The seller of the 1893-CC ended his listing after he received my message that his coin was counterfeit. But the eBay allowed the fake 1916-D Mercury Dime to sell.

Interestingly, after all the drama and online posts about this coin, three bidders retracted their bids.

So, the Fun (w/Fakes) seemingly never ends! Especially since eBay continues to adequately police their auctions and ignores reports of counterfeits. This may make your blood boil, but the fake 1916-D sold for $8,114. I hope the winner reads this before the return window closes!

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