1879 Morgan Dollar - Carson City

Hi All,

I've been offered the chance to purchase what appears to be an 1879 CC Morgan dollar. It isn't magnetic (so I'm fairly confident it's genuine), but the coin looks a bit clean - to my eyes. Do you think it has been cleaned at some point?

Any ideas on grade / value would be greatly appreciated! Whilst not wanting to pay over the odds, I don't want to lowball the guy either.

Thanks, Tom

 

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It looks cleaned to me. You should take straight on photos, so it can be properly examined.

 

The overall appearance of the coin is highly suspect, and this is beyond the fact that the mintmarks appear to be incorrect for this date. Perhaps it is just the less-than-idea photos, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Also, the fact that what purports to be a coin is non-magnetic in no way indicates authenticity.

 

Thanks for this - will bow to your knowledge and probably steer clear of it!

 

agreed, just by the "look"

 

I think the coin is not genuine. This is a date that one buys in a slab, not raw.

 

I have seen fake coins in authentic slabs before. Don't totally trust slabs. I only own couple of slabs which I bought as a curiosity, still haven't decided if crack open or sell them as they don't fit with me. If you know what you're doing I see no problem buying raw.

 

The mint mark appears to be added to me

 

It all depends on the grading service. What slabs do you own?

Chris

 

This looks like a VF Details/Cleaned VAM-6. The cleaning is not the "scrubbed" variety. It is the complete loss of patina and dull appearance....perhaps from being in the pocket of a pair pf pants washed with strong detergent. There are some other obverse and reverse markers which will tell the story. The VAM 6 is the only 79-CC with a centered mintmark.

 

While the position looks quite good in reference to VAM6, even with an overlay, have you closely looked at the mintmarks themselves?

 

It's a Chinese counterfeit.

 

@Clens, I'm still fairly new here, but if it's one thing I've learned, it is the old adage "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't". Did he give you a price at all?

One of my first large purchases was a U.S. Trade Dollar; also a highly-counterfeited coin. It turned out to be fake, but made of silver. Only by asking here did I avoid a big mistake.

(And the eBay seller had a return policy!)

Be patient, ask here first, do your due diligence with research, and buy from trusted sources ONLY (and possibly only slabbed) when starting out.

 

Rarely. I would NEVER buy a better date coin that wasn't slabbed, and purchased from a reputable dealer. 1879cc is the third toughest date in the Morgan series to find a nice one (tied with 1884s in uncirculated condition, and 1895o), and as such, why even think of considering what is obviously a fake.

 

Probably real but clearly heavily cleaned. Don't buy this coin anyway.

 

It's not real.