Sources for good looking REPLICA old US coins -- for making conchos

[Bonnie_blue1861]

I wanted to start a discussion about  REPLICA's of old US coins. Some guys like to use them as part of a living history display or re-enactment etc....I use them to make conchos.

Of course some scoundrels out there try to sell the off as originals....but let me discuss them as a source to make authentic looking conchos for leather gear, tie/scarf slides, etc.

I used to buy them on ebay from various sellers over in China, who were deemed to be "counterfeiters" by ebay standards, perhaps by US government standards too. I guess I wouldn't argue that point, because some of those Chinese copies are just amazing and look pretty darn close to original, worn tarnished and everything. Some of these guys probably by definition were counterfeiters but sort of reinvented themselves to conduct a more legitimate business, especially with buyers in other countries.

For instance, I have a few FAKE quarters (which I bought from China last year) from the mid 1800's... that look so real... it's hard to believe they are fakes...Hence scoundrels buy them for $2 a piece and then sell such fakes online, here in the USA.... with some tall tale about how he found them on day, while climbing on top of the rafters, out in his Great Grand-Pappys old barn,erected in the 1830's.

So yea...we can all recognize the potential for "abuse" of these neat replicas.

Understandably.... some people (crooks) buy such fakes and try to pass them off as real to unassuming buyers as originals. Some of them really look god and although the US laws states they must be stamped with COPY or REPLICA on one side, many times the minters don't meet that requirement (often photo-shopping the required stampings onto their sample photos). 

Ebay changed their policy a few months ago and no longer allow replica or copy coins to be sold on their site. They say its to better help comply with our federal laws regarding fakes, counterfeits etc. All are supposed to be stamped on one side but alas...many are not by the overseas minters who likely are counterfeiters but sell them under the pretense that they are for displays, help make collections more complete, etc.

The problem is that these fakes make exceptional...exceptional concho's for authentic looking leather belts, vest buttons, holsters, etc....you name it. I have attached them to customs spurs that I sell. 

Do any of you know of sources to still find the replicas the look real enough for such purposes? I would never want to buy a real coin from the 1800's to attach it to a pair of spur straps. They were dirt cheap when ebay allowed them...$2-3 each shipped from China. Anyone know of any sources for them?

I'm not talking about the cheap copies like Tandy makes of the 1881 Morgan silver dollar or a few other variations such as Peace Dollars made by Tandy or similar company.

The copies China makes of all the old coins completely blows them away. You absolutely cant tell till you look real close, weight it and examine it very closely to realize its not a coin that 150 years old.

[Kent Shootwell]

Dixie gun works listed a few to include a confederate half dollar.

[Bonnie_blue1861]

Dixie gun works listed a few to include a confederate half dollar.

Thanks...I'll have to check them out.