Okay, I hang my head in shame, as I was on meds and put in what I thought was extremely low bids in an obscure auction, and won! The photos weren't great, and I wasn't thinking straight, so didn't put a lot of thought into the auction, so I was surprised when I got both of these at $200 each. Later, after the coins arrived, I took time to examine them a bit closer and now have second thoughts as to whether they are authentic, and if so, what they might be worth. After reading all of the information I could find on how to determine fakes from real, I still can't tell, but believe Coin B to be fake, and Coin A uncertain. Weight: Should be 27.63g Coin A 26.7 g Coin B 26.6 g Diameter: Should be 38.1 mm Coin A 37.9 mm Coin B 37.9 mm Coin A Coin B damage at 5:00 looks like high voltage electricity
Well you know I have no clue. Bless your heart. The others will help you no doubt. Sorry that has happened if they are not authentic.
Like you say, I think the first could pass for just harshly cleaned and damaged, the second, boy, real or fake, something extreme sure happened to it.
I have one Lafayette that I paid $400 for, a certified straight graded XF40. I feel like I got a better deal than if I had bought two questionable examples for $200 each.
Circulation hits and wear on a coin that was not intended to circulate? Humm... Maybe this will help; https://news.coinupdate.com/counterfeit-detection-lafayette-dollar/
The second one is bad for sure. It has all of the characteristics of a badly done cast copy. The first one is more convincing, but the fact that it is underweight and, especially, comes up short in diameter, makes it quite suspect. These coins were struck in a collar and had uniform diameters. I don’t know how the piece could be too small.
A lot of Lafayette Dollars were mishandled. A few of them were spent or carried as pocket pieces. I will post pictures of a worn piece I won for a FUN show exhibit. It is not that unusual.
B has what looks like a lamination error at 5:00. A piece fell off after striking. Real or fake, I don't know, not my are of expertise.
Are they underweight? They should have been the same weight as a standard silver dollar which was 26.73 grams not 27.63 grams. He gives the weight of his coins with a single decimal place but I think both of them are within the tolerance range of +/- .097 grams. Low end tolerance would be 26.633 or to a single place 26.6 grams.
I don't like either one. The top coin, besides the weight and small diameter (which are pretty crucial, as J.M. has pointed out) has mushy looking details and a lack of die polish on the reverse. The second coin is all too obviously a fake. here is a gennie for comparison:
