I am a beginner in coin collecting. Recently I came across a street coin seller with some Morgan Dollars like the one I have posted in the attached photos. It is an 1881 issue. What is notable about this coin is that the obverse has the word "copy" written across the top of the Eagle' head. I read about counterfiets and what I wish to know is whether this coin is one of those. Also what does the word "copy" signifies. If it is fake, what are the signs. Thank you for whatever information you can give.
"copy" signifies copy or replica (not original) based on an original design. hope you didn't pay much for this.
The word 'COPY' on the coin is your first clue the coin is not genuine. The Hobby Protection Act of 1973 requires that all copies, reproductions, etc. made after 1973 to resemble genuine coins must be stamped 'COPY'. Some copies and reproductions are properly stamped 'COPY' but many - especially those counterfeits made in China - are not stamped. Like krispy said, I hope you didn't pay much for that copy.
The two statements above are true... Another thing, don't buy off of street dealers, and don't buy coins that look like that, I didn't even read your thread yet, and I saw the pics, and thought it was fake, the coloring is off, and this copy looks to have been cleaned... Just a double negative there. Stay away from any coins MARKED "COPY" Hope you didn't pay a real coin price for a fake
This should help you http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t56522/#post611909 http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t54340/
you'l find the same coins without copy also selling at flea markets, auctions and still on ebay, the chinese do alot of trade dollar fakes, morgans and fake pattern coins , large cents and seated liberty coins,they also do common date coins that are machine worn to look old but are fakes, i got scamed on a carson city trade dollar on ebay, it looked nice and the local coin shop was also fooled but it was a fake, luckly paypal refunded my money and ebay kicked the seller off but they are always trying to recruit people in the US to import the coins for them, also the chinese have faked PCGS holders too!! try to buy only slabbed coins if your spending any amount of money, I would like to know if anyone out there collects fake coins?? some of these fantasy pattern coins are pretty neat
I have a Picasso.....copy Hello, Patty. What those other guys say is true. Bet a magnet sticks to it, so it is not made of silver. Fake/counterfeit/copy are loaded words. Could not tell if it was an 1881 CC (a good one to copy since it would be worth oodles of $ if real) BUT I guess it would only be considered "counterfeit" if you tried to spend it at face value of $1.00, perhaps more than it's true value. Meanwhile, I have a Copy of a Picasso painting. I like it. It's not real. I know it. I view it. I don't expect to pass it off as the real pizzyrinken. I hope you did not get taken for a decorative device.
By the way welcome to CT , you will learn a lot hear , from very friendly people , one of the first guidlines is buy the book before the coin , meaning read up on the coins you like , one of the 1st books to get is the Red Book , it gives a lot of valuable information , another must have is a good grading book like the ANA Grading Standards , 6th edition . Good Collecting . rzage
Welcome patty, a lot of good advice. You should keep that counterfiet dollar. It is just one of those lessons learned, and you won't make that mistake again. You can look in your area for a coin club, and be sure to look through the Numismatic Resources section of this site. And the members of CoinTalk are always here to help.
Welcome to CoinTalk, and thanks for posting some nice large photos too! Please do some reading about coins and look at some at a reputable dealer's or at a coin show before buying! And please come here and ask lots of questions, there are no dumb ones!
That is probably an older copy since it does not comply with the 1973 Hobby protection Act. But just because it is older doesn't mean it is worth a premium.
The word copy is in raised letters not incuse, and the word is smaller than the law specifies that it must be.
I did notice the word 'COPY' is in relief rather than being incused. I assumed the word 'COPY' had to be present but I will accept that it has to be stamped into the coin. And I'll also accept the size of the letters. Looks like I need to read the Hobby Protection Act again.
(3) An imitation numismatic item of incusable material shall be incused with the word COPY in san serif letters having a vertical dimension of not less than 2 mm or 1/6th the diameter of the reproduction, a vertical depth of not less than .3 mm or 1/2 the thickness of the reproduction whichever is less. The minimum total horizontal dimension of the word COPY shall be 6 mm or no less than 1/2 the diameter of the reproduction. Since a silver dollar is 38 mm the word COPY at 6 mm would have to be roughly 1/6 the diameter of the coin. The word COPY on this OP coin is clearly smaller than that.
it's what keeps me coming back year after year... although I do tend to be a lot more visible when I am home from work like this past week
