COUNTERFEIT 1882 $3 Gold pieces

There are often many "RAW" 1882 $3 Gold pieces for sale. There were only 1,500 minted, but thousands of Counterfeits have been made. In fact, the 1882 $3 Gold piece is the most widely counterfeited $3 gold. These 1882 $3 Counterfeits are VERY COMMON. These counterfeits were made by die transfers. They used an original 1882 $3 gold piece to create the dies. The obverse was nearly impeccable except the details in Liberty's headdress are nearly non-existant. The flaws on the reverse are much more pronounced. The left hand side of the wreath has leaves with virtually no detail. All the lettering and the date are much fatter/wider than on a real one. The '3' is much much fatter and flatter, especially on the bottom half of the 3 than on a real one. The best way to avoid being taken on one of these coins is to only buy one in a known TPG holder