Hey guys I've had this trade dollar for awhile now, and was thinking about sending it in, but since I've been seeing threads questioning alot of coins authenticity i wanted to see what you guys thought of mine. I'm well aware this is a HEAVILY counterfeited coin, so can anybody advise on its authenticity based off of the pictures below: I do not actually have the current weight for the coin at the moment. Just haven't had the coin and scale in the same location with this topic on my mind. Can remedy that tomorrow though. I know the question will be asked. Lol. My second question was towards a variety or authenticity indicator in the form of 'filled' mint mart. The bottom of my 'S' looks to be just a blob. Is this normal for a trade dollar? And lastly is there any opinions as to the grade? Please note the rim ding around 3:00 on the obverse and the gouge above the left wing of the eagle on the reverse. Thanks CTers!
I would love to see what the experts have to say, but I see no indicators saying its fake. But then again, I have no idea at authenticating trade dollars, so I more than likely will be wrong. Did you get it from a reputable source, and why isnt it already slabbed?
It isn't slabbed because sending coins off to be graded wasnt the 'cool' thing to do with coins 20-30 years ago when my grandfather likely acquired it. I'm not sure of its history other than my grandfather gave it to me around 5 years ago, so anything prior to that I couldn't tell ya, other than my granddad's coins are often cleaned (but not by him of course ) and he has been collecting for the whole of his life and he's 80, so idk authenticity could go either way, although I'm leaving towards its ok. I think the filled S is likely a genuine occurrence for this date and that wouldn't be something a counterfeiter would typically notice.
Not all have chop marks but this was done by our goverment because the coins more in silver content than the coin was worth. The coin was made to be used in asia and had more silver added than american dollars. When they started showing up in the usa the goverment collected as many as it could and the chop marks were to make the dollars worth by the weight of silver. Mine like yours is not in a slab but the dealer i bought it from i trust his judgement and he stands by it being the real deal so i am happy. Hope yours is too great looking coin.
By the way should it not have the chop marks dosent mean its not real but i think i read it should weigh more because the silver content will be more than that of a dollar coin made of silver for use in the USA. Sorry i think i read this on a thread made by someone on coin talk. Wish i had the link for you as i found it an interesting read.
I believe the chop marks were made in China by merchants, not in the US by the government. The chop marks allowed the merchant to see inside the coin and verify that it was 90% silver throughout (and not simply silver-plated base metal) and to indicate that the merchant had verified the coin's weight.
Looking at my coin closer today I realized the 'gouge' above the eagle's wing is possibly a chop mark of some sort. It looks deliberate and is pretty deep to just be a nick from a coin or something. I'm not saying it couldn't have been some cowboy playing with his knife and coin, or someone along the line checking for authenticity much the same way as a chop mark. So obviously this would make it ungradeable, probably VF details at best I would imagine. I did find a little reading from an older coin world about their being filled 'S' for this year, but nothing on whether that particular aspect was counterfeited or not. So can anyone help with authenticating this coin from the pictures provided. Still working on a weight for you guys, couldn't find my scale where I thought it was last stationed. Hmmm
