Featured Counterfeit Morgans: hands on with a high quality Chinese fake

I agree that the very small details of various VAM varieties do not replicate well.
With an attributed Morgan Silver Dollar VAM coin, you can compare the subject coin to one shown at www.VAMworld.com .

For example, the "CC" mint mark position of this thread's subject coin dies not match the correct placement and style for any of the known genuine 1879-CC VAMs.

So I think sticking to VAM coins would certainly increase your chances of having genuine coins.

 

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Yep !! Go to the tread fake 10$ gold in ngc holder

 

Go to aliexpress.com search Morgan Dollar and prepare to be horrified.

 

If someone would have purchased the coin originally posted in this thread and put a pic of it on this forum, I doubt anybody would have came forward and said it was a fake. People can claim they would but I don't believe it. More likely anyone who would've claimed it was fake wouldve been ridiculed.
That's a very good fake.

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Any VAMmer would have immediately noticed, during the attribution process, that the mint mark is far too large and in none of the known locations for 1879-CC. The sheer size of it immediately puts it on the radar. That aside, it_is a very good fake, just not a good enough one to get by a Morgan specialist.

http://www.vamworld.com/1879-CC+Reverses

 

An unfortunate percentage of this board is quick to carelessly label any coin not residing in TPG plastic as fake, and do so without making it clear they're guessing; if ridicule is warranted, it's long over due.

 

In coin world today


New counterfeit 1894-O Morgan dollar: Monday Morning Brief, May 16, 2016

Numismatic Guaranty Corp. has identified a new “contemporary counterfeit” 1894-O Morgan dollar and dollar experts have assigned a VAM number to it, just like a new genuine die variety. Coin World’s William T. Gibbs explains why in his look at contemporary counterfeits.

 

I also watched Gibbs' video but came out scratching my head. I assume he is saying that the weight is .2 of a gram off, 26.93 to 26.73 for real Morgan, but what else ? I've looked over mine. Is the "O" off centered or the denticals poor to the original ? During his talk pictures posted behind him pointed to stars and what looked like an area around the left wing I assume, but what area the specific areas to look at ?

 

The video did not play for me I will check to see what was said

 

I haven’t seen the video, but that fact alone would raise some serious red flags. Typically, the acceptable range is +/- .10 grams for a genuine Morgan. If the weight is off, it’s almost always off within the lower bounds (26.63 -.73 g) due to wear from circulation. It’s typical (and intuitively makes sense) that a cull/AG Morgan weighs slightly less than it did when first struck. Though I don’t weigh each raw Morgan that I encounter, the ones I have never exceeded 26.73 (+/- .02) grams.

 

Did any one read this one

Made in the USA: ‘Good’ counterfeits also made domestically
Bloomberg reports on Federal Reserve note forgery ring Secret Service closed in 2014

 

This one would have fooled me, I'm not that good at detecting fakes yet. My friend had three graded NGC $50 Gold Buffalo's that turned out to be counterfeit. He caught it because the bar code and serial number's looked wrong.