Real or Fake? 1862 S seated half dollar

Howdy!
Like the title says, I've got an 1862 S seated i'm not sure about! I would be grateful if someone could tell me from these pics! it was a $5 impulse buy at a San Jose flea market...

 

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Looks real to me. Nice find.

 

You need a rare earth magnet to do a real test.

 

One of the fallacies of counterfeit detection, as many modern fakes are struck on 90% silver planchets and artificially aged.... the rare earth magnet will slide correctly.

 

While that is possible on high end coins it is not common. I have seen over 100 fakes that were found by this test.

 

Which sounds correct, as "bad" fakes outnumber "good" fakes by at least a hundred to one. Still, there are more and more correct alloy fakes hitting the market. CT member numismat listed at least a dozen (on another thread) from one eBay seller alone; multiply that by the numerous sellers staying one step ahead of eBay's watchdogs, and "not common" becomes "quite common".

 

Looks legit to me. Great grab for $5!

 

Well, a magnet didn't stick so at the very least I know that.

 

C'mon for $5.00? NO CHANCE of being genuine at that price. Even flea markets know what they have as regards goods.

 

Very true... us flea market vendors aren't as dumb as we look, lol.

 

That's one test... now try the slide test with a rare earth magnet (or any of the non-destructive tests for silver). If it passes that, you may have silver coin... and it could still be fake.

 

I know, I know. I first bought this thinking it was a counterfeit anyways but I wasn't too sure because I've never owned a seated liberty...

 

I should probably get one of those

 

Or just take the coin to your local coin shop and see if the owner can verify. That doesn't always work either... he insisted one of my Chinese fakes was genuine (1803 bust dollar, struck on 90% silver planchet with perfect edge lettering... origin: Big Tree Coin Factory, Fujian, China).

 

I respectfully suggest that you research "WB-103" varieties for the 1862-S, which are characterized by a small wide "broken" mintmark (missing the upper curve as yours appears to). If I remember correctly, this mintmark was used on two different reverse dies, and can also be distinguished by a greater distance between the upper serifs of L and F of HALF.

While it can be suggestive, the price of a coin in no way determines its authenticity, and since the purchase has already been made, you might as well disregard it entirely and focus on what the coin itself can tell you. Good luck.

 

Thanks! You know, from what little research I actually did, I did indeed see some info that included the WB-103 variety but did not actually look into it much. Thanks for your input!

 

That is totally absurd. People are going to sell a coin for $5.00 that they could get multiple times the amount for? There are coins that are often cherry picked, but this is beyond any sane selectivity. One can assume that the coin is fake due to the value placed upon it. Flea market sellers aren't stupid. That coin would normally sell for $70-200, and a vendor would get an idea of its value. It makes as much sense as the Stradivarius in the attic story.

 

While it sounds preposterous to a coin person that someone could sell this for 5 bucks and it turn out to be genuine, it does happen occasionaly. Maybe someone told the seller it's a fake.
From what I see it would be well worth investigating more whether it's the real deal. It may even be worth it to spend another 20 bucks or so and send it to ANACS.

 

I am sorry, David, but is it not more absurd to come to a conclusion based only on something as trivial as price instead of using facts that can be proven by the coin itself? Price can be suggestive, but in no way is it an absolute determiner of authenticity.

I simply suggested that the OP do his homework instead of dismissing or writing off the coin based only on conjecture. If he chooses to research, and no matter what he discovers the coin to be, in the long run, especially if continues with this hobby, he will be the better for it.

 

Hello Mr. Books, I may send it to a coin grading company at some point but in all honesty, I believe it to be real though I'm no expert by any means! I would like to think that I will continue my interest in US coins as I have loved US coins in particular since I was about 12 (so 8 years ago lol) I'm deploying out of the US with the military literally in four days and I will hold off on sending it as of yet. Thanks!
John