Suspicious NGC holder and coin

[Kowloon88]

Hi metal people

Went browsing today and noticed this for sale. I picked up the holder and something seemed off.

- The insert moulding is not sharp, and surface is “streaky”, maybe from poor moulds.

- Ink on the label is rather dull and fuzzy

- Barcode is not crisp

- Strike of the Queens face is not quite right

https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/3235194-003/69/

Unusually, the photos on NGC are rather blurry. Not sure if this is expected.

Any thoughts from fellow Forum members?

[motorbikez]

NGC don't always take good photos, I have sent a coin back to them to take photo again, they did so free of charge. Ink could be fading on label because of age. Personally I think it is right but you could always contact NGC & see if there is any history with the coin.

[Peacemaker]

there is a significantly thicker rim border on the ngc photo

---

Added 0 minutes later...

may just be the lighting but it does look thicker

[MikeSol]

Coin looks suspicious to me, Quick search of Aliexpress shows this coin is faked so wouldn't take much to put it in a fake NGC slab.

Also sticker on the back of the slab isn't centred like that on the NGC verification.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3-Pcs-Non-Magnetic-The-Australian-Dragon-animal-200-badge-24K-gold-plated-brass-34-mm/32945629339.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.273.22ece911DGklSt&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_4_10065_10130_10068_10547_319_317_10548_10696_10192_10190_453_10084_454_10083_10618_10307_10820_10301_10821_10303_537_536_10059_10884_10887_321_322_10103,searchweb201603_52,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=9625d906-be32-4e62-b671-21323b571fb1-41&algo_pvid=9625d906-be32-4e62-b671-21323b571fb1

[shawy2510]

Looks fake & like mentioned the NGC sticker is not centred like the original. 

[motorbikez]

It's a fake, regardless of NGC's photographic skills the coin shown on the NGC site has 103 dots between the rim & the inner circle on the reverse (dragons side), the fake has 100 dots between rim & inner circle.

[Kowloon88]

Thanks all for the input

I overlooked the NGC sticker placement and paid too much attention to the details. You guys seem right that it clearly does not match the NGC photos from that alone.

I think I need to invest in a Sigma and carry it around with me 😅

1 minute ago, motorbikez said:

It's a fake, regardless of NGC's photographic skills the coin shown on the NGC site has 103 dots between the rim & the inner circle on the reverse (dragons side), the fake has 100 dots between rim & inner circle.

Haha, thanks for going to that length of verification! 

[JunkBond]

I hope you were browsing at a car boot sale or such like and not a coin dealers!

[Kowloon88]

2 minutes ago, JunkBond said:

I hope you were browsing at a car boot sale or such like and not a coin dealers!

It was from a brick and mortar coin/antiques dealer.....😬

PM me if you want the details

I think I will go back to the dealer and let him know about the dots and NGC sticker placement

[JunkBond]

Just now, Kowloon88 said:

It was from a brick and mortar coin/antiques dealer.....😬

 

Oh dear... 😂

[HighlandTiger]

.........................and this is the reason why I won't touch slabbed coins. It won't take the Chinese long to make a perfect copy of a slabbed coin.  (if they haven't done it already)  

[Serendipity]

I generally avoid slabbed coins because there is always the danger of dealers and buyers trusting the slab rather than the coin. It is very worrying that the slabbed dragon was bought from a brick-and-mortar dealer. There is a true account of a retired restaurateur who now lives miserably in a state-paid care home who amassed over one million pounds of gold bars in sealed plastic. Every single bar in his safe turned out on testing to be a tungsten-filled fake. The sad reality is that scam artists are out there making fake gold coins and fake gold bars and investors/collectors today need to be savvy if they want to avoid adding any counterfeit product to their collections.

[Guest]

Problem with NGC is that sometimes the picture quality in the certification is really bad, that it is difficult to counter check with the actual coin...

PCGS is better for the picture quality though 😉