Fake silver half dollars that will shock you! Identifying counterfeit coins. 

That is downright unsettling that there are fake half dollars out there.

Wow. I have never seen the fakes get into the silver half dollars. The halves are getting valuable enough to fake.

Not that surprised that scammer would fake half dollars. It's a well liked product that has some good value. I am surprised they would waste their time on dimes!

Man this is very disturbing. With silvers’ value going up & finally being realized, I suppose we can’t be surprised that this is happening with more frequency. It’s up to us to do our own DD on what we purchase. Thanks for shedding more light on this issue!!

The issue is density. Since all metals have different densities, to make the coin the proper weight and diameter, something else has to give...and in this case, it was the thickness.

Counterfeiters driven to desperation?? Can't imagine faking a 50-cent piece, whether there's supposed to be silver or not. Worse than counterfeiting a one dollar bill.

Liked the video, but disliked the situation with the "coins". Even though we know they're fake, it would be interesting to see them cut in half, to see the whole cross section of them.

They almost always use brass for fakes. I'm a little disappointed at the Sigma tester. I feel like you should be able to put any coin on there and get a composition from them. So, it's only good for U.S. silver coins and it miss reads 40%ers. What happens if you put an 80% Canadian dollar on it?

Hey Speg! Great video...very eye opening as I've been stacking half dollars hard over the last year or so! I would have NEVER thought about fakes in that group. Thanks for all you do for the stacking community!

I can hear the difference, but that is still scary at how close those fakes were to looking real.

I can't believe how good those FAKES are! Except the one with the brush strokes.

They also have a different look/strike compared to 1964s. Those look maybe like 80s-90s strike 🤷‍♂️

I spotted the fake kennedys easily. But ive been doin this for a while. I could tell by the finish and the color

That is really scary. I hadn't seen fake constitutional half dollars until today. I this really puts a highlight on the need for me to make getting a sigma machine a priority (I already have a scale and caliper). Thank you for all that you do for the community, sir. 👍🏻

I was typing out my comment "What next, counterfeit Roosevelt dimes?" and about 5 seconds later you mentioned their existence! Scary stuff, especially when the coin pretty much matches the proper weight and diameter, and is not magnetic.

For 1964 Kennedys, do you test on "Pre 1945" setting or "1960" setting? Mine tested good for the Pre 1945 setting but tested bad for the 1960 setting.

The "Ring" is an indication of purity and high pressure stamping (Forging). Forging knocks out impurities and trapped air from the metal. A long time ago someone showed me this on a set of crankshafts; one cast, one forged, he tapped each with a socket and the cast crank went "ding" while the forged crank gave a long sustained ring. I use this process to verify gun slides and frames to verify they are forged.

This is yet another reason I avoid "bargains" when purchasing Silver and Gold coins online. It may increase my cost-per-ozt, but by only using the very best of sellers (even on EBay there are sellers with 100% feedback and high sale volumes). But trying a seller that doesn't have that great reputation may just be a suckers bet, and I have no time for that. It's amazing what people will do for a quick buck!

Great ! ... Now everytime I get junk silver, I'm gonna be freaking out ! .. I thought it was the one thing I didn't really have to worry about..Thanks !

Dang it Speg! Now I gotta check my halves. I never would’ve thought anyone would go to the trouble of faking halves. Thanks for the info😎

Thank you for the video. Gave me something to do today with pinging over $700 fv 90%'s. Didnt find a single fake but great information for all stackers new and old.

That's crazy, very discouraging, and scary. I can't afford a PM verifier. I do use a diamagnetic/magnet slide test so I hope that works.

The FED mints coins now i guess. lol.

Faked = Counterfeit, state and federal felonies. Over 15 years ago I arrested a vendor, at one of the local swap-meets, for sale of counterfeit silver dollars. He was also selling counterfeit Calif. DMV year stickers, vehicle titles and license plates. Some crooks will deal in only one type of counterfeit item, and others will deal in other counterfeit items, beside those items listed, I have also come across those who sold counterfeit Rolex watches, Levi's, perfume, vehicle license and VIN plates, etc. Added: as far as coins and bullion goes I only buy Canadian SML's, and Sunshine Mint rounds, because of the security features. I also buy 90% silver from only three of the major on-line vendors - I have never had a problem with them. THANK YOU for the info on the counterfeit 1/2 dollars!

The Franklin weighs perfect but the thickness of it is a little shy. So, with that being shown...a worn coin doesn’t always prove any type of silver loss.

Nice vid. A cheapie usb microscope is also helpful for spotting some fakes. Two of the halves looked grainy in the vid, how did they look in person? My LCS once showed me a fake Peace dollar that almost stopped my heart. It was like a 10 second panic attack, lol

I now have a good metal detector that discriminates between metals. They can coat copper coins in silver and play all sorts of tricks, but the detector doesn't lie.

Very easy to hear the higher silver pitch vs the lower fake pitch when dinged.

First it was the look of the 3 suspect coins. But it became really obvious as you started to gingerly drop them down against each other on the table: they didn't make that distinctive sound of high silver content coins. Its so distinctive. The fact that a simple quick weigh in could fool someone, especially someone who had a whole roll of 64s say, is scary. The moral of the story is to do multiple tests on all newly acquired silver coins.

It sounds like they were silver plated, so I take it those would go into a melt bin? or would it make more sense to just toss, or maybe go in for chemical processing?

You ought to take one of them to the coinguy and see if he thinks they are fake right off the bat. Since they are pretty good fakes and all.

This is sad. I thought the forge silver don't include the continental silver, but apparently I am totally wrong. That's also a Federal offense because is forgering U.S. currency and I hope who did this face federal prisons

I’m really curious if the Sigma Metalytics Pro Mini would also be fooled by the 40% post 1964 coin. Do you know? Also, did you ever slide your magnet down the side of the fake Kennedy coins to see if the magnet slides slowly? Seems to me based on this video that the ping test was best low cost test. So is the Pro Mini worth its high price tag? Great channel…Thanks you..

Awesome video. The Sigma is also great for testing slabbed or other sealed coins that you cant get accurate weight or dimensions due to the packaging. Good stuff here. Thanks for sharing.

A strong earth magnet can repel and move a real silver coin, which is diamagnetic when placed it a little over the coin flat on the table. I do it with the edge using a round earth magnetic. With a bar earth magnet I drag the bar close to the coin without touching to make it move.

Short story. Went to the bank looking for halfs. Was able to pick some up. Got home and was looking through them. I found one that was cut in half and re-assembled. In the middle was some sort of symbol and it looked to be a chip. Crazy!!!!

I never sweat about the weight or wear of constitutional because I never purchase them by the weight, nor sell them by the weight either. Great video buddy!

Could the 40% problem be because it is made with a clad planchet with a different percentage of silver in the inner and outer layers?

Nice video, very educational! Maybe You should contact with somebody who makes hand poured ingots and ask them to convert some of the fake coins into whatever-metal bars (or some SpegTacular souvenirs). Watching fake coins melting would be enjoyable :)

Maybe I've got a keen eye or maybe I'm full of myself, but my first thought was, "Shallow relief on those Kennedy halves." Then I was suspicious of the edge when you handled one. Likely yellow brass from the color of your scratch. Well done, & thanks!

Thank you for making these videos! As collectors or stackers we must be vigilant . 👍

Really interesting. I just bought ⅓ of a bag of 64 Kennedys from a local coin shop. I'm looking forward to putting each and every one of them - AND my coin dealer to the test!

Damn it , now I have to go down to my secret dungeon pull out all my halves for testing .

With junk silver that has no numismatic value you can do a silver acid test. Do a few scratches from the rim on to a scratch test stone. Then pore the acid on the scratches. The scratches turn reddish and you know you have silver. If no change in color you have fakes. The scratch stone often comes with the acid or costs very little.

Scary indeed! The surface is so flat...what I like of Kennedys is the convex surface

Ok, I've watched the whole video now. Looks like I'm going to pull all my halves and test them, lol. If I may make a suggestion, get or build yourself a magnet slide. There are a couple of sellers on eBay. It is better than simply using one of those little magnets and see if they stick. You can definitely see the difference in speed with a lot of fakes when they are sliding down the magnet slide VS a real silver coin. Now, you yourself probably don't need one, since you have the Sigma machine (I have one also), but a lot of people aren't going to pay $700+ for a Sigma, and the magnet slides are around $50 on eBay, so a lot of your viewers might be interested. Keep stacking, and thanks for the video.

I went into an Antique mall that has a couple of coin booths in it and the one guy was selling a counterfeit 64 for $5. NO WAY am I going to touch that. You would think it would be against the law. JJ

65 to 70 Kennedys are not 40% silver alloy but instead they are 80% clad over 21% silver core giving different properties for the machine to test as opposed to a solid 40% silver coin or 80% coin as well.

this thickness popped out to me right away. a little tough with the ping on those ones. i'm off to ping coins for the next 2 hours. great video.

Hard to believe 90% is faked. Crazytown! Love using the Sigma to test precious metals. Good stuff.

Good video thanks for the educational information, definitely worth watching. It helps remind me to be careful and check what I buy .... 👍

Thanks for the info. Its crazy that those 40% passed every test until the machine. I could see a lot of people getting scammed by those.

Just received a fake 1904 S Morgan on EBay. Thought it looked “too good” in a different sort of way for an old coin too. Way overweight too. Thanks for the video.

So my question is, how many fakes have YOU found in your personal stack? Not that have been sent to you or that you knew were fake. Thanks in advance. Plus I am quite certain that each of those fakes went through several other sets of fingers before they got to you. I really appreciate the fact that you cut them up. I got bit once but $6 to a crackhead on the corner didn't break me.

you should try using a magnet slide.. I have one and it works well.. Copper/nickel will slide down fast. Steel will stick to the magnets. and silver will slide down slowly.. they are available on ebay..

And with times as they are i won't be surprised if there's an uprise in counterfeits

You weighed the Kennedy half dollars using the pre-1945 setting. OOOPS!

sigma metalytics precious metal verifier. pricey ($700) but worth it for huge collections. stack high.

WOW! Thanks for the info! Now I have to test all my half dollars!

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise!

This is very upsetting yet i appreciate the feedback. I got some work to do in checking my coins now...

I know this is old but I was so glad to find out those ASE were real! The milk spot is what would make me think real.

Copper coins may look better after dipping, BUT they turn out a ugly pink. Cleaning is a chemical process. Grading companies use the right chemistry, not a shot in the dark with commercial cleaners. It’s easy to see that a coin has been cleaned once you see one that has not.

How can a company sell counterfeit US CURRENCY and nothing is done about it

Good morning SpegTacular 🤩🤩🤩

If William has a good relationship with his LCS, they may do the analytics for you if you ask, but probably not before you buy, just bring something in and ask if they can test it

Fake halves, geez! Thanks for sharing! 👍

That yellowish stain is likely citric acid residue, or similar acid. I worked cleaning gas tanks and repairing them, citric acid leaves a very similar staining if not throughly cleaned out.

One thing that I have came across on fakes is the lube used in the press, those people most often apply used oil and grease to the dies to make the fake coins. This lube is about tough to remove from the edges and anywhere a design is. Often to remove the lube you remove the finish.

Magnet slide trick and what Speg says, silver has a richer very resonant tone. FYI if you have a small flat magnet it will slowly slide off a silver coin at an angle as if it wants to stick but just can’t quite.

DANG THOSE FAKES , SEND THEM TO THE MOON SPEGS.

The ding test works really good but not too many people want you to ding their coins before you buy them

We can't get lazy. Test everything that comes into the stack. WOW!!! What's next...dimes? Great video Speg!

I just bought a roll of au 64 halves. 2 of them only weigh 12.3 grams. Should I be worried?

Dude you got the same scale I use for weighing my weed 🤣😂🤣😂

Came across this video after I found my very first fake 64 Kennedy in a roll today. I knew something was off with it but it confused me when it was passing all the tests. That is, until the ping test. Thank you for the video.

Those are good fakes. A lesson for us to check the rolls/bags when we buy in bulk.

Good video actually. The majority on eBay is real. Junk silver though is a real problem. In little old Australia I see heaps of 92.5% and 80% silver fakes , so massive US market surely is full of fakes.

The color is what tipped me off, they didn't look right. The B in LIBERTY seems at the wrong angle also... curved lettering is harder to get perfect, but it was into the vid and really looking at it that I noticed that. A note on the scale, I've found it's best to hit the "tare" button and reset zero between weighings.. less of an issue with something heavier like halves, but can have more effect on accuracy if say.. determining Cu or Zn 1982 pennies.

Crazy they fake silver halves. From what I've seen eBay is cracking down on fake ASEs. They're not everywhere anymore.

If someone can find a way to cheat you, they will. Stay vigilant my friends!

So if a coin fails a weight test, it CANNOT have been from the U.S. mint? Right? The government could never ever have produced coins that fail the test, right?

Without looking at the entire video, the 1964's at 1:43 and 1:48 dont look right so I'd say they are 2 of the fakes. Edit: Yup. Edit 2: Those werent very good fakes if someone like me was suspicious after only a first glance.

Are they silver plated im interested to know wether they test out silver with acid

Using a plain magnet is not a proper magnet test . Using a magnetic-slide test is the proper magnetic test .

I really learned a lot. Thank you for sharing it. 🤯🤯🤯

Well hopefully my LCS does their research cuz I'm not going through my rolls of Kennedys

The U in United on the 1 oz could be off. Not sure what year it changed to include a little tail.

I must admit, I would not have expected the Kennedy's to be faked as much as the Bengies or Liberty's.

the outside of 40% coins is 90% silver !

I had a fake silver morgan dollar coin once, it was hollow with a loose heavy piece in side.

I just have 3 gold plated Kennedy 40%. I magnet sticks to them although no very strongly……but it does stick. I’m guessing they are fake. What are your thoughts? Thanks.

Looks like he’s got cauliflower ear on the fakes lol

I noticed you didn't use the 1960 setting when you checked the Kennedys. I wonder if the fakes came any closer to the brackets on that setting.

Where did you get the fake Kennedy halves for this video? Let us know so we don't get taken advantage of by some dishonest person(s).

Just getting back into collecting glad I rolled across you channel! This video earned you another subscriber! It's the Chinese As I've heard they're getting really sufficient at faking coins! Sad greedy world we live in!

Once I saw Franklins going for $20, I knew it was the time for the underground to start putting out thousands of them. Too much profit not to make an attempt at they money.

Have you ever done a specified gravity test.

That machine does not have a setting for the 40 percent but it does let you know if they're silver. They don't seem to allow for folks not knowing a 1966 half isn't 90 percent. I'm surprised it doesn't mention it in the literature. It simply tells you that the 1966 half is really silver.

Thank you spec. For this video. Very important for coin collector's to see.