Over the last three months, several counterfeit and altered 1909 S Indian cents have been brought to me at shows. Also, several altered 1909 S VDB have made their presence known.

The Mint spend time and money to produce a quailty product. They will also reproduce hundreds of dies from one master die. They pay attention to the very small details.

The counterfeiter is only producing one obverse and one reverse die. They can not afford to spend the money that the United States Mint spends on quality control during die production.

ILNA Board Member Richard Prouty gave me this die struck counterfeit 1909 S Indian cent to photograph. At first glance, this coin is very convincing. But after taking some time to study the coin, the imperfections come to light. Thanks to Richard, I will share this coin with you today.

Since a VF 1909 S Indian coin sells for between $325 and $400 and an AU sells for between $425 and $500, it pays to examine the coin carefully.

The diamonds in the head piece are the first place to look. Notice how the last dimaond is poorly formed compared to the diamond above it.

Centered between the last “A” of AMERICA and the last “9” of the date, examine the rim. Notice the three raised lines coming from the rim.

Most collectors spend time examining the obverse of the Indian cent, but very little time examining the reverse. The counterfeit knows this and spends less time on the reverse of the coin.

Let’s examine the reverse die markers on this counterfeit die struck reverse.

Most counterfeit Indians have very poor details in the shield, yet most collectors mistake it for ware. The shield should ware first in the center, not on the top, bottom or sides. Notice the poor details pointed out by the black arrows. This is not ware but poor die engraving by the counterfeit.

Many collectors look at the mintmark, but do they examine the mintmark? Notice the spike at the top of this mintmark and the lack of space shown with the second black arrow. Neither of these will be found on the genuine coin.

The area around and near the mintmark should be examined very carefully on every key or semi-key date coin. This is a very important area for both altered and die struck counterfeits.

If the area below this mintmark were to be examine in detail, a pain should come into your stomach. It will not be gas or indigestion, but a sick feel of buyer beware.

Notice all the raised lines below the mintmark at the rim. These raised lines are below the mintmark and on both sides of the mintmark at the rim. These are not die polish lines or gouges. They are poor quality control on the part of the counterfeiter.