BEWARE of FAKE CASASCIUS COINS

[gentlemand]

one quick question having a coin graded prevent 100% of fake right?

I've only one coin non graded and I'm a bit suspicious It can be a fake, because it's not and it's in relatively bad shape  

I would've thought their job is solely to put a wee score on the lump of metal placed in front of them. I presume grading and authentication are totally different areas and not a problem the average grader is looking to take on. Could be massively wrong though.

[1715241638]

1715241638

[krogothmanhattan]

one quick question having a coin graded prevent 100% of fake right?

I've only one coin non graded and I'm a bit suspicious It can be a fake, because it's not and it's in relatively bad shape 

Can you please post a good photo of the coin in question? Front and back and blank out the first bits.

[krogothmanhattan]

one quick question having a coin graded prevent 100% of fake right?

I've only one coin non graded and I'm a bit suspicious It can be a fake, because it's not and it's in relatively bad shape  

I would've thought their job is solely to put a wee score on the lump of metal placed in front of them. I presume grading and authentication are totally different areas and not a problem the average grader is looking to take on. Could be massively wrong though.

  I think you are right I do not think they authenticate if the coin or token is genuine or not.

  When MJ submitted his he told them it was a fake IIRC.

  There are people in this forum who can do a better job at authenticating coins in our hobby than them for sure.

Edit>>>  They graded a FAKE Sol Noctis here as genuine https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3315347.0;all

[Anduck]

one quick question having a coin graded prevent 100% of fake right?

You need to have a legitimate coin to compare with. Grading prevents nothing, and a bad actor may even have graded fakes to make it less suspicious. Obvious fakes can be spotted by the community (if you present some pics), though.

When MJ submitted his he told them it was a fake IIRC.

There are people in this forum who can do a better job at authenticating coins in our hobby than them for sure.

Correct for both. I think some people in these forums could do better job at grading too, as sometimes at least ANACS places some very incoherent or even totally off grades on crypto collectibles.

[Ultra_io]

so I guess I'm fine I've forgot that MJ was the escrow. I guess he would be able to see a fake it was this auction:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1933101.0

(yes I've lose my oldest account )

[krogothmanhattan]

so I guess I'm fine I've forgot that MJ was the escrow. I guess he would be able to see a fake it was this auction:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1933101.0

(yes I've lose my oldest account )

2012 Casascius?  It looks genuine to me mate..cheers 

[Ultra_io]

so I guess I'm fine I've forgot that MJ was the escrow. I guess he would be able to see a fake it was this auction:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1933101.0

(yes I've lose my oldest account )

2012 Casascius?  It looks genuine to me mate..cheers 

good to hear. Cheers, it's sad that fake coin exist, but I'm scared about this problem becoming really huge for casascius, I hope the community can find a decent solution, maybe a blockchain based one. Why not grade them all, and put an "unique" chip on the graded plastic, with anchored proof of authencity on the bitcoin blockchain? Chip could own the PK that made the anchor or something like that

Obviously its not easy tech, but there is not so many coin especially very valuable ones

[Ultra_io]

one other tech that scammers could use (I hope I'm not giving them bad idea) is to provide pic of a legit coin, and send the fake coin :/ Noob like me would rely on online certification, but definitely not enough  
Unfortunately the coin is not close to me, but when i got it back I will provide some of my own pics

Anyway this community is strong enough I believe that as long u make a trade here, you are fine.

[krogothmanhattan]

one other tech that scammers could use (I hope I'm not giving them bad idea) is to provide pic of a legit coin, and send the fake coin :/ Noob like me would rely on online certification, but definitely not enough  
Unfortunately the coin is not close to me, but when i got it back I will provide some of my own pics

Anyway this community is strong enough I believe that as long u make a trade here, you are fine.

  Never say never...and read further up as the bait and switch happened to me on ebay  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3257048.msg49060240#msg49060240

[krogothmanhattan]

I think some people in these forums could do better job at grading too, as sometimes at least ANACS places some very incoherent or even totally off grades on crypto collectibles.

I don't really trust their ratings either...not since they graded Satori chips! I look at the coin and determine its quality..not some stamp from Anacs.

They also graded this FAKE SOL NOCTIS without indicating its a fake! https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3315347.0;all

[coco23]

These holograms were made years ago...

If the toning color of the faked casascius is made closer to the real one it will fool most people who are not into the daily dealing of our crypto passion.

So yes...most seasoned collectors in here will be able to distinguish between the two but newbies entering the market can easily be fooled.

Thanks for posting those, I hadn't seen them. They are of similar quality than the other fakes. Of course newbies can easily be fooled, this is the case for any collectibles....
The trouble starts when experienced users or experts have difficulty to call out fakes. The problem won't get smaller or go away in the future, that's for sure...

[ChiBitCTy]

A couple new Casascius fakes to be aware of...



Found here- https://bitcointaiwan.weebly.com/




Found here- http://blog.sina.cn/dpool/blog/s/blog_6f1216f90101qj3e.html

Wanted to post these here as well. Krogo was kind enough to post these in the "Breached and Scam Coin maker list" a few months back.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/custom-design-bitcoin-coin_60091026935.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.100.2a6b1f1ettAfJq


https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/fashion-European-custom-bit-coin-promotional_60538793997.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.97.2e4a1f1ebW6udS


https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/hot-sale-custom-made-metal-bitcoin_60496117956.html?spm=a2700.7724838.2017115.315.18d41f1ec8e6Xy

[gentlemand]

I would call all of them tributes or ripoffs, not forgeries or fakes. There's no concerted attempt to be indistinguishable from an original. They're all clearly nothing like the real deal.

[ChiBitCTy]

I would call all of them tributes or ripoffs, not forgeries or fakes. There's no concerted attempt to be indistinguishable from an original. They're all clearly nothing like the real deal.

Sure maybe to the trained eye, but this sector of coin collecting is not well known by the general public, and that's what this thread is mainly for (this thread is also pasted on Uberbills where many non-experts visit).  I also disagree that none of them are meant as an attempt to fool a buyer.  Let's say for the sake of argument none of them were meant to be fakes to fool their customers, but the customers that do buy them might try and attempt to sell them as real Casascius coins to an unsuspecting third party. IMHO I'd argue there's less than 100-150 people on this planet who can identify a Casascius "tribute" from the real deal with ease.

[gentlemand]

IMHO I'd argue there's less than 100-150 people on this planet who can identify a Casascius "tribute" from the real deal with ease.

The one with the hologram has a hologram that in no way resembles a real one. The others have engraving on the back instead of a hologram. That's two seconds of googling. I've never seen one of these attempting to pass itself off as a real one. They quite often have Casascius in the ad titles, but they also have 'souvenir' or 'commemorative' and they never cost more than $5-10.

One day one of them will. Not yet.

[ChiBitCTy]

IMHO I'd argue there's less than 100-150 people on this planet who can identify a Casascius "tribute" from the real deal with ease.

The one with the hologram has a hologram that in no way resembles a real one. The others have engraving on the back instead of a hologram. That's two seconds of googling. I've never seen one of these attempting to pass itself off as a real one. They quite often have Casascius in the ad titles, but they also have 'souvenir' or 'commemorative' and they never cost more than $5-10.

One day one of them will. Not yet.

I have seen multiple fakes sold, and for much more than $5-10.  So have other experts here.  Mike Caldwell didn't make every coin the same, nor did he do so with his holograms (also that hologram absolutely resembles a Casascius).  Casascius.com is not a good resource for this info, nor is it a simple task for newbies to figure out everything Mike made over the years in a few seconds.  Mike also didn't load all of his coins.  He released a good amount of DIY coins, and not just the cheap aluminum ones, that didn't come with holograms.  These coins sell for good money even without being loaded/having a hologram. You seem to be missing that point.  Again, this is in large part for the newbies.

[krogothmanhattan]

IMHO I'd argue there's less than 100-150 people on this planet who can identify a Casascius "tribute" from the real deal with ease.

The one with the hologram has a hologram that in no way resembles a real one. The others have engraving on the back instead of a hologram. That's two seconds of googling. I've never seen one of these attempting to pass itself off as a real one. They quite often have Casascius in the ad titles, but they also have 'souvenir' or 'commemorative' and they never cost more than $5-10.

One day one of them will. Not yet.

I have seen multiple fakes sold, and for much more than $5-10.  So have other experts here.  Mike Caldwell didn't make every coin the same, nor did he do so with his holograms (also that hologram absolutely resembles a Casascius).  Casascius.com is not a good resource for this info, nor is it a simple task for newbies to figure out everything Mike made over the years in a few seconds.  Mike also didn't load all of his coins.  He released a good amount of DIY coins, and not just the cheap aluminum ones, that didn't come with holograms.  These coins sell for good money even without being loaded/having a hologram. You seem to be missing that point.  Again, this is in large part for the newbies.

  I have seen ebay sellers place a photo of a real Casascius coin and when they ship they send a fake Casascius. It happened to me last year. If not for the trained eye, newbies can easily get fooled.
 
  What is posted on this thread is to help any collector of what is out there. Be they good forgeries or bad, the more we post on what is out there, the stronger we are in educating everyone who visits this thread.

  I thankyou both for your inputs, it helps seeing it from both sides of the fence so top speak.

[ChiBitCTy]

Well said Krogo
Here’s an  example of a btalk forum member being fooled back in 2014 -
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=465242.0

[wheelz1200]

IMHO I'd argue there's less than 100-150 people on this planet who can identify a Casascius "tribute" from the real deal with ease.

The one with the hologram has a hologram that in no way resembles a real one. The others have engraving on the back instead of a hologram. That's two seconds of googling. I've never seen one of these attempting to pass itself off as a real one. They quite often have Casascius in the ad titles, but they also have 'souvenir' or 'commemorative' and they never cost more than $5-10.

One day one of them will. Not yet.

I have seen multiple fakes sold, and for much more than $5-10.  So have other experts here.  Mike Caldwell didn't make every coin the same, nor did he do so with his holograms (also that hologram absolutely resembles a Casascius).  Casascius.com is not a good resource for this info, nor is it a simple task for newbies to figure out everything Mike made over the years in a few seconds.  Mike also didn't load all of his coins.  He released a good amount of DIY coins, and not just the cheap aluminum ones, that didn't come with holograms.  These coins sell for good money even without being loaded/having a hologram. You seem to be missing that point.  Again, this is in large part for the newbies.

  I have seen ebay sellers place a photo of a real Casascius coin and when they ship they send a fake Casascius. It happened to me last year. If not for the trained eye, newbies can easily get fooled.
 
  What is posted on this thread is to help any collector of what is out there. Be they good forgeries or bad, the more we post on what is out there, the stronger we are in educating everyone who visits this thread.

  I thankyou both for your inputs, it helps seeing it from both sides of the fence so top speak.

Dam that's a sheisty move.  I am going to assume ebay gave you your money back?  Bait and switch 

[krogothmanhattan]

IMHO I'd argue there's less than 100-150 people on this planet who can identify a Casascius "tribute" from the real deal with ease.

The one with the hologram has a hologram that in no way resembles a real one. The others have engraving on the back instead of a hologram. That's two seconds of googling. I've never seen one of these attempting to pass itself off as a real one. They quite often have Casascius in the ad titles, but they also have 'souvenir' or 'commemorative' and they never cost more than $5-10.

One day one of them will. Not yet.

I have seen multiple fakes sold, and for much more than $5-10.  So have other experts here.  Mike Caldwell didn't make every coin the same, nor did he do so with his holograms (also that hologram absolutely resembles a Casascius).  Casascius.com is not a good resource for this info, nor is it a simple task for newbies to figure out everything Mike made over the years in a few seconds.  Mike also didn't load all of his coins.  He released a good amount of DIY coins, and not just the cheap aluminum ones, that didn't come with holograms.  These coins sell for good money even without being loaded/having a hologram. You seem to be missing that point.  Again, this is in large part for the newbies.

  I have seen ebay sellers place a photo of a real Casascius coin and when they ship they send a fake Casascius. It happened to me last year. If not for the trained eye, newbies can easily get fooled.
 
  What is posted on this thread is to help any collector of what is out there. Be they good forgeries or bad, the more we post on what is out there, the stronger we are in educating everyone who visits this thread.

  I thankyou both for your inputs, it helps seeing it from both sides of the fence so top speak.

Dam that's a sheisty move.  I am going to assume ebay gave you your money back?  Bait and switch 

  I messaged the guy and basically told him he pulled a bait and switch. Once he gave me my money plus shipping expenses i sent item to him in canada..i reported him to ebay. I was told he was a member on this forum too. Scum