Saw this on eBay. I may be wrong but I thought one characteristic of fake trade dollars is a full eye. This one has a full eye. Also, the letters seem small on the back. This guy sells coins too! http://cgi.ebay.com/1876-S-Trade-Si...em&pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item43a0052357
The details don't look right... fine details like the hair, eagles feathers, etc. look like you'd see on an AU coin, but luster and surfaces are that of a F-XF coin.
My first exposure to Chinese fake trade dollars was at the expense of my father in law. He bought a bunch of old US coins (trades, Morgans, draped) at the swap meet and I offered to research them for him. Glancing at them at the swap meet, I notices they didn't look quite right. Uneven reeding & denticles, etc. 1st red flag. I chalked it up to early minting techniques. I knew very little about coins at this point. When I looked into them, I was finding that all of the coins he purchased were among the most valuable and rare specimens of their kind, albeit in well circulated condition. 2nd major red flag. And then I found that some of the coins fell within the date range for their type, but I couldn't find anything regarding some of the dates in front of me. So either they weren't minted that particular year, or were so rare that this was a major find. Not very likely. 3rd red flag. Finally I started researching fakes and everything fell into place. Early and important lesson: Be very skeptical about amazing swap meet finds. Luckily he only paid a few bucks a piece for them. At that price, I think it's neat to have them just for the sake of reference.
The coin doesn't look right because of (A) the rim and (B) the coin's details look far too sharp for a coin whose color clearly belongs to a coin several grades below the level of detail. Stay away from it and if you're going to buy high-end coins on eBay, please stick to reputably TPGs from sellers with at least 99% positive rating and plenty of feedback. All the best!
"History of" implies to me more than one and that one is dubious. If you got a $500 counterfeit coin, would you leave a neutral? I see nothing on that coin that tells me it is counterfeit (not that these are my area at all). Now, that does not prove squat, but one of the reasons I have had luck reporting on eBay is because I only report what I know to be true
I apologize. What I should have said was "dubious quality". With all the appearances of counterfeits and cleaned coins being mis-represented (on line and at shows), I find my confidence waning. I realize I did the same thing with this seller, by presenting a mis-representation of his products in general. I apologize again for being so flippant.
I think it's real. The color is off but so is the color of many of the silver coins he is selling. Same yellow look. I put his image side by side to one I know to be real and can't see anything to make me question if it"s real.
ldhair, I just read up on some fake trade dollar detecting and I came upon one of our own threads posted by ksparrow. http://www.cointalk.com/t63695/ This 1876-S trade dollar only shows 3 fingers instead of 4 and the ends of the LIBERTY ribbon is pointing to the left instead of down.
I see what you are saying. Had me for a second. As you read the OP it says later that the 1876 used both T1 & T2 obverse.
Looks real to me and the color is most likely a bad white blance on the camra. If that is a fake, it is far and away the best one I have ever seen. I bet it would even slab PCGS 45 to 53 depending on luster. It is a correct type 1/1 which is common for the year/mint
If the seller had a known counterfeit Trade Dollar for sale, the images would be smaller and out of focus. This is not a reason to think it is genuine, only diagnostic testing would reveal those issues. Using the images provided, it does look like a real US minted coin.
Some say they have been making fakes of these for about 100 years. I would love to own one that old. Don't think I have ever even seen an image of one that old.
