The phrase "a phony one" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that is not genuine or authentic, often in a negative context.
Example: "He claimed to be an expert, but everyone knew he was just a phony one."
Alternatives: "a fake one" or "a counterfeit one".
The distinction between bond purchases from the government and from the banks that bought them from the government is a phony one that gives rise to myriad possibilities for circumvention.
"A true democracy," she says, "not a phony one," like Iran.
Why did he feel he had to invent a phony one?
"I would prefer to see the academy figure out a way to get rid of the theatrical requirement and recognize that the distinction between theatrical and non-theatrical for documentaries is a phony one and makes no sense in the modern world of documentary production".
"The guy's a phony," one guest said.
And we prefer wine with a pedigree, even if it's a phony one.
What might have been a pleasant nature documentary -- though a somewhat phony one, since the pandas were transported to China from American zoos -- has instead become a gooey, overscored, underwritten, and mercifully short period costume drama.
"I don't think there is a single character in 'The Graduate' that is not a phony, to one degree or another, except Benjamin and Elaine, and only in the scenes when they are alone together".
That the grownup life exemplified by Carson was in large part phony (one discovered upon reaching it), a construct of television entertainment itself, simply added to its desirability.
The lasting quality of a luxury Louis Vuitton Speedy 35 handbag is not even close in style and substance to the phony one purchased after onerous negotiations in a disreputable Canal Street basement infested with rats and roaches.
He was everything that was not "phony", one of the many words I learned from him.
