FAKE 1974 ALUMINUM CENTS OFFERED ON EBAY

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V20 2017 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 20, Number 22, May 28, 2017, Article 29

A May 26, 2017 Coin World article by Paul Gilkes describes a fake 1974 aluminum cent offered recently on eBay. It was bought by E-Sylum contributor Jonathan Brecher, who provided these images and commentary. For comparison I added images of a genuine piece from the National Numismatic Collection. For our overseas readers, a small number of these coins were struck in aluminum as pattern examples of the proposed new metal composition. Only a few are extant. -Editor

I bought it because it struck my fancy. There wasn't much chance that it was real, but it's a pretty obscure piece to fake and the seller clearly wasn't trying to hype it. I don't like encouraging counterfeiters in the abstract. On the other hand, there really wasn't any reason not to bid for under $5 delivered. I was expecting a plated piece from a seller who assumed that anything "white" had to be aluminum. I flipped out when I took it out of the envelope and saw it really was aluminum. Then I calmed down when I looked at it more closely. It was a fun little bit in the middle there. :-)

It weighs 1.005 grams, so it's definitely not copper. Unfortunately, it's also definitely not authentic. The dies are HEAVILY polished, with massive detail loss across the board. Look especially at Lincoln's coat, which blends into the field. There is no sign of VDB initials on the truncation of the bust. None of these features match the example in the Smithsonian.

Additionally, all of the lettering has a "mushy" or "pitted" quality that is never seen on US Mint products. There are good pictures of the real 1974 aluminum cent in The Authoritative Reference On Lincoln Cents by Wexler and Flynn

The Coin World article notes that a genuine 1974 aluminum cent weighs 0.93 grams vs the 3.11 grams for the genuine copper alloy version. -Editor

I think this is a spark erosion counterfeit, where the surface of the die was polished smooth to remove the pitting in the fields. That polishing removed much of the details, and wasn't able to remove the pitting from the design elements that were recessed on the die. Once you have counterfeit dies at all, you can strike them on anything.

I wonder if whoever made it knew what he was doing, or if it was an accident that he ended up with the one date where an aluminum cent would have mattered.

Now that I have this one, I see several other similar listings. I probably wouldn't have paid even the $5 if I was aware of the others. Bad on me for not doing my research first, although I still don't mind for $5. I do feel a little bad for whoever paid $200+ for the similar listing cited in the thread on the PCGS boards and in the Coin World article.

Interesting story, and a fun item for $5. But the presence of such counterfeits in the market is important to be aware of. Thanks to Jonathan and Coin World for spreading the word. -Editor

To read the Collectors.com discussion forum, see:
I just bought a 1974 aluminum Lincoln cent on eBay (https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/981202/i-just-bought-a-1974-aluminum-lincoln-cent-on-ebay)

To read the Smithsonian article, see:
UNITED STATES, 1 CENT, 1974 (ALUMINUM) (http://amhistory.si.edu/coins/printable/coin.cfm?coincode=3_01&coinside=front)