Here's a counterfeit 1848 half dollar which immediately looked suspect, but took about 30 seconds to convince myself it was fake for sure. Reported to both the seller and to eBay.
Coloration looks weird, date looks weird, pimple on Liberty's cheek, what else? (not a series I know much about)
Now that scares the pants off me..... I would have been a buyer too. I felt pretty good about my counterfeit detection ability on series that I collect.... Until today.
Although I’m not familiar with the series, the toning looks strange I kinda stick to graded for anything over $200 Scary
Sorry, the OP doesn't have the coin, but the seller messaged back saying "the weight is correct" and that the coin "passed the magnet test".
After looking at the OP coin and the certified one there are so many things wrong with the fake; denticles, hair, fingers, neckline, ... That's before comparing reverses.
Well…. Lady Liberty certainly had a Botox lip treatment on the fake… But at first blush, I would have carried that one home.
For those of us less familiar with this series, can you point out a couple of the most obvious places to look to identify this fake?
The lettering on thexreverse the biggest tell. Too fat too mushy and conjoined. He’d face is off too. Those the first tells
The filled in 4 of the date. The lack of fine definition on the drapery folds also east tells. At a quick glance to an untrained eye it looks good. On some close study it looks really bad
Well, that's just the thing that's throwing me. Normally, mushy lettering is one of my first tells. But, this lettering seems crisper than your typical fake. Comparing it to the genuine piece John Milton posted, the lettering doesn't really seem that off - nothing I can't account for with die wear, or a different die pairing.
Yeah. It’s I feel a better fake. But the overall feel from someone who’s handled and studied a lot of seated coinage is it doesn’t look right. It’s subtle but off. The date in particular
As someone who hasn't handled much seated coinage, I appreciate y'all's expertise. That's why I'm asking questions!
The hair looked really cheesy to me. Overall the whole coin has a cartoon-y look. But the title told me it was fake, so...