Morgan Dollar - Fake?

Hey guys. I'm new to coin collecting and so I'm trying my best to stay away from trouble. I bought this morgan dollar today from a coin shop. Its a 1921 morgan dollar "D" mint mark. Because of so many fakes out there I'm very careful as to which coins I buy. I live in canada so i don't have experience with american coins. But when i was looking at the coin under a magnifying glass, there seems to be a metal connection between the letters "States of America" and also some on the reverse. Also where it says "ONE DOLLAR" the first "O" seems off as there is more metal to the left side compared to the right. Doing my research the 1921 morgan dollar isn't rare so it won't make sense faking it. But im very suspicious. For the record the coin weights 26.62 grams and passes magnet test. please help

 

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Looks good to me.

 

Coin looks OK to me, the connection between the letters is a die crack, a fairly common error.

 

Thank you so much for the quick response. I was stressing out about it the whole evening.

 

Congrats on a nice coin! Looks good to me!

 

Thank you, also i noticed if i hang the coin from a plastic bag and use a magnet on it, it's very slightly magnetic, is this how it should be?

 

did some more research seems that there is enough copper in the morgan to make it very slightly magnetic

 

It's legit. Looks like a VAM-1F.

 

Copper is a non-ferrous metal therefore not magnetic.

 

it is very slightly magnetic you can check yourself. hang a coin from a string and use a magnet on it.

 

Agree with others, OK.

 

Looks good to me . They really pumped these out overusing the dies , plus they lowered the relief which is one reason '21 Morgans look different than other Morgans .

 

Not "magnetic" like iron, steel, or pure nickel -- it's not attracted to a magnet.

But when it moves past a magnet (or vice versa), there's some drag (due to induced current). This effect happens a tiny bit with most metals, but it's quite noticeable with silver (because silver is such an excellent conductor of electricity).

I had an opportunity to experience this with a really strong MRI scanner magnet (7 tesla). There was an aluminum end cap that normally covered the bore, maybe 6 inches in diameter. You could hold the cap still, and there was no force on it other than its weight. But if you tried to move it, especially if you tried to move it quickly, it twisted and turned in your hand like it was alive. It was downright creepy. I wish I'd been able to try it with a Morgan dollar.

 

I won't try to go into great detail on the subject but induced current or charged particles within a coin is what I believe causes the coin to attract ions from the atmosphere which induce toning. Gold is highly unreactive but will still surface tone by attracting particals to its surface.

 

I could pictures of mine if the OP would like? To compare

 

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Induced current stays within the coin, and only arises when the coin moves through a magnetic field (or sits in a changing magnetic field). I think the only way it could affect toning is if it actually heats the coin, and that's not going to happen by accident.

Induced current is different from electric charge, which I think is what you have in mind.

Also, the stuff in the air that causes toning is mostly hydrogen sulfide or sulfur dioxide and moisture. Those don't really ionize until they're already on the coin's surface, at least not in normal atmospheric conditions. (You'd need to subject them to high voltage and/or reduced pressure.)

 

This. Makes being a counterfeit unlikely. Die cracks do not transfer well if the counterfeit is created that way, and the cracks on this coin are clearly VAM-1F, one of the most heavily cracked 1921-D's. Not a chance it's fake.

 

As one who teaches physics for a living, I can't resist adding my 2 cents. When there is relative motion between a conductor and a magnetic field (such as hanging a silver dollar (silver is second-best to gold as a conductor) and moving it past a magnet, a current is produced (induced) in the conductor. One of the weird relationships in our universe is that changing magnetic fields produce changing electric fields, and changing electric fields produce changing magnetic fields. Consequently the changing current in the dollar produces a magnetic field that will interact with the magnetic field present in the magnet, so the silver dollar could/would move. Thus endeth the physics lesson for today.

 

Actually, silver's best, then copper, then gold, then aluminum, according to the tables I've seen. Gold's good for contacts, though, since it doesn't corrode or form an insulating oxide layer.

Without even so much as a right-hand rule?