Morgan experts can chime in with details, but just the overall finish and look of the coin looks extremely suspicious to me. I would not touch with a 10 foot pole. In my experience, 99% of the coins that look like that are fake, 1% real. However, I will couch that statement with the fact photos can be very deceptive, I would have to see the coin in hand to prove it.
I can't point to what specifically I don't like about it, but I just don't like it. I'd stay away from this one. It just doesn't feel right.
It’s a 1893 Morgan, a tough date to acquire. I have one, a good one that’s genuine and this coin doesn’t look anything like mine. And I’m not talking about the circulation wear.
Yes, LIBERTY is recessed, not raised. The crown with LIBERTY on it sits lower than the design around it so it’s protected.
The date looks bad. You can say that is from wear, but the artificial wear and patina is designed to hide these types of things.
Sent a note to seller. Told him several experts felt it was a possible fake, just so you know. He responded that a professional numismatist inspected & approved all his coins. Turns out it’s a pawn shop near Ocala FL. He should know but he didn’t care I’ll visit his shop this winter. Just for fun
I'm no expert, but this looks like a Shanghai Special to me. Edit: after a second look, particularly at the font of the lettering ONE DOLLAR on the reverse, I'm fairly convinced of it. Bogus.
Did they weigh it and give it the sigma test? Just curious. From experience, even coin dealers can do those tests, come out legit, but still not be authentic. I'll not go into that story here and trample your thread. It is a funny story though, and I ended up making a 60% profit.
I know a guy who does everything but guns. (insurance, permitting reasons) He's got one. He's been buying all of the gold and especially silver he can get his hands on. He's also sort of a Sheldon Cooper type (except straight and 6 foot 4 and a womanizer). But he's a brainiac. Built a few high powered lasers, uses drones to drop his live baits from his boat. lol He's another heavy metal, stockpiling precious metals for his retirement. He also is a chemistry wizard, is melting down massive amounts of bling down to gold and silver bars.
If a coin has a high enough numismatic value, it can be worth it to make a fake that's still made out of genuine materials, so correct weight/metallic tests still might not prove it's genuine. I've seen a YouTube channel where a dealer often gets fakes of numismatically valuable (or they would be if they were real) coins that are still genuinely made of gold or silver. There's a coin store in Florida that often gets gold pirate and/or shipwreck coins, that were made as tourist souvenirs. People who bring such in get told "well I have good news and bad news; good news is the gold is real, bad news is it's not a real coin. But I'll pay you what the gold is worth if you want to sell it."
They have melted 50% silver British junk to make counterfeits in China since I don’t know when. Close enough for who it’s for.
