Fake assay cards and TPG slabs have been flowing in from China for 10+ years.
thecrazyone wrote:At least with NGC, you *should* be able to validate the number on the item against the NGC site.
They typically copy a legitimate serial number so the number on the fake slab will pull up the same coin/grade on the PCGS or NGC site. If there are photos on the site you can at least compare those to the coin in question.
PCGS started putting NFC tags in their Gold Shield slabs last year that you can check with a modern smart phone.
thecrazyone wrote:Why doesn't China EVER get busted for this crap??!!
But how do you "bust China" for this? The Chinese government has no incentive to stop these profitable "replica collectables" companies. Four years of tariffs made no difference.
And if you want the US government to open and inspect every package entering the country from abroad, be prepared to have the baby thrown out with the bath water, and to foot the bill for the privilege of massive shipping delays and misidentifying (and/or stealing) legitimate goods
I think the only practical approach is for dealers and collectors to be armed with the knowledge that a huge variety of fakes exist, and know how to identify them. That's the idea behind the website in my signature. Unfortunately I haven't yet made the time to document and post the ~500 additional examples I have for the database
