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As the American Numismatic Association concludes its annual convention – dubbed the “World’s Fair of Money” – this weekend in Oklahoma City, the coin-collecting community continues to be plagued by one of its most pressing issues: A proliferation of Chinese-made counterfeits.
According to the association, such fakes are more widespread than ever. They’re often sold, experts say, through online auction facilitators such as eBay to unwitting collectors fooled by too-good-to-be-true bargains.
The U.S. Mint says its latest coin release, featuring laser engraving, marks a leap forward in counterfeit-busting technology, and some believe the agency may be thumbing its nose at bogus coin makers in the process.
“With the proliferation of Chinese counterfeits on online auction facilitators, the U.S. government is clearly stepping in and trying to do something,” said Scott Travers, an author and numismatist who serves as editor-in-chief of COINage magazine. “The mint is trying to send a very public message by coming up with new technology that will thwart counterfeiters and set them back generations.”
The newly issued 2025 American Eagle Silver Proof is the latest in an iconic series of investor and collector coins first launched in 1986.
Produced at the U.S. Mint at West Point, the one-ounce silver coin depicts sculptor Adolph A. Weinman’s “Walking Liberty” figure – first used on the 1916 half-dollar – on its “heads” side, holding branches of laurel and oak while wrapped in the folds of the American flag. The reverse features a landing eagle clutching an oak branch seemingly bound for a nest, the same image featured since 2021.
What makes this issuing unique is the first-time use of laser technology – in particular its laser-engraved privy mark, a design element typically used for marketing or historic purposes. For instance, a 2020 American Eagle coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II featured a privy mark reading “V75.”
The 2025 laser-engraved coin’s privy mark showcases a laser beam, rays flowing from its core, that Travers believes is a dig at would-be forgers.
“It’s giving a strong message,” he said. “Don’t fool around and try to copy U.S. coins anymore.”
He called the coin “one of the most significant and symbolic issues in modern history.”
The U.S. Treasury, which oversees the mint, did not respond to a request from USA TODAY for comment.
The folly of fake coins
Counterfeit coins have long been a thorn in the side of the numismatic world and federal authorities. A 2008 Coin World investigation estimated more than 100 robust counterfeit enterprises in China at the time, most of them cottage-type operations.
Experts say the fakes commonly appear on online auction sites, often offered at seemingly bargain prices. Supposedly one-ounce silver coins might be listed for as low as $16 despite the fact that the going price of silver is more than twice that.
“A lot of people fall into that trap,” said prominent numismatist John Albanese, founder and CEO of Certified Acceptance Corporation, one of three major coin authentication companies serving the coin-collecting world. “But if the price of silver is $34 an ounce and someone is selling it for $16 or $19, you can guarantee that it’s counterfeit. It’s a minefield.”
While serious collectors are savvy enough to avoid such temptations, the general public remains vulnerable, Travers said, “duped by wanting to think they’re ripping the eyes out of the seller and getting the better end of the bargain.”
“To find an American Eagle on eBay for 16 bucks represented as a negotiable, genuine U.S. coin is egregious and unconscionable,” he said.
While eBay says it doesn’t allow counterfeit products to be sold on the site, coin community discussions on social platforms like Reddit and elsewhere say enforcement often comes after the fact, with other sellers subsequently taking their place.
“The counterfeit sellers end up getting shut down at some point, but it’s a game of whack-a-mole,” said one user earlier this year in a community chat on eBay. “Another one is always popping up.”
Travers said he sympathizes, to some degree.
“They are making efforts and inroads to correct this,” he said. “A lot of this is beyond their control.”
Albanese said counterfeits can look remarkably genuine, even to longtime collectors. He keeps a magnet in his office as one method of detecting silver fakes, usually made of steel – which unlike silver, will be drawn to the magnetic pull.
While the 2025 American Eagle represents a quantum leap forward, he said that still doesn’t solve counterfeiting issues with coins produced in earlier years.
“There’s still billions of coins out there that people aren’t sure are real,” Albanese said. “That’s why we tell people to buy from reputable dealers.”
‘Detail no one has ever seen before’
The American Eagle series is specifically designed for collectors, with various mintages produced each year in gold, platinum and palladium. The 2025 lineup, for instance, includes coins commemorating the 250th anniversaries of some U.S. military branches, with privy marks featuring military logos.
The laser-engraved American Eagle coin is a so-called proof coin, meaning one made by striking a planchet, or metallic disk, twice or more with specially polished dies. The process yields what Travers describes as a chromium-like brilliance.
“It’s mirror-like,” he said. “You will be able to see yourself in it.”
In this case, the die has been engraved with a laser-engraved design, “so the detail will be extraordinary, detail no one has ever seen before,” Travers said. “It will be just about three-dimensional.”
Proof coins have been produced since the 1800s but according to the Proof Set Guide entered their modern era in 1936, when they began to be marketed not just to collectors but to the general public. In those days, mintages were as small as 50 or even a dozen coins depending on the number of orders, Travers said.
The U.S. Mint characterizes the 2025 silver proof coin as “a first-of-its-kind opportunity” to buy a coin produced with the new technology. The coin is available through the mint or through its U.S. Mint sales centers in Denver, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
While the coin’s mintage of 100,000 is considered low these days, Travers said, that doesn’t necessarily make it a boom investment.
“The mint has a proliferation of proof coins, dozens of them,” he said. “Collectively, there are a heck of a lot of coins out there.”
Consequently, he said, collectors seeking a profit might want to capitalize on the short-term excitement.
“If they can double their money now, that might be prudent,” Travers said. “The strongest time is when they have a buzz, like now and in the next couple of months before the buzz gets transferred to the latest thing.”
More likely, he said, the new issue will appeal to people looking to round out their collections.
“That’s the spirit of collecting and I encourage that,” Travers said. “But this is not something to get rich on.”
Despite new tech, experts advise caution
Going forward, Travers said, laser production will provide greater insurance for those who purchase coins made in that fashion, though caution remains necessary.
“I wouldn’t expect that it will all at once encompass every single coin,” he said. “But I would hope that with more valuable coins, especially gold, that this becomes the new standard, because the problem with gold coins being counterfeited is overwhelming.”
Travers said he’s seen counterfeit gold coins, made of tungsten and coated with gold, being offered for as low as $100-$500 on online auction sites. Gold is currently valued at more than $3,300 an ounce.
Despite the new technology, Travers and Albanese say counterfeiting remains an issue for coins produced in previous years.
“Counterfeiters will simply backdate coins with earlier dates,” Travers said.
Smart collectors, he said, will stick to buying coins independently certified by grading companies that, for instance, encapsulate coins in sonically sealed holders, often with protective holograms, as part of their authenticating services.
“Those grading services will still reign supreme,” Travers said. “I don’t expect that just because a coin is struck with new laser technology that people will say, OK, that’s good enough for me.”
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