NEW YORK, June 5 (UPI) -- An auction house filed a lawsuit against a New York coin collector, claiming three rare coins he sold them are counterfeit, court documents said.
Papers filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court say Heritage Auctioneers & Galleries purchased U.S. three gold coins for $31,000 from Boris Koyen Aminov, 37, of New York and later discovered "the coins were fake and virtually worthless."
Two of the coins were $5 gold "Indian heads" from 1909, stamped with an "O" to indicate manufacture at the New Orleans mint. Greg Rohan, Heritage president, called them "really, really good counterfeits. Our expert who got fooled in New York is a top expert. These fake were that good."
The coins, when authentic, have an estimated selling price of $690,000, the New York Post said Wednesday.
The lawsuit says a Denver mint mark, a "D," was altered on the coins by Chinese counterfeiters to resemble an "O."
Aminov first told Heritage he would refund the money, then reneged because he had spent it, the lawsuit contends.
