Looking at Ebay there are tons of repro Morgan proofs (sometimes called "tribute" coins). I haven't seen actual Morgan proofs up close, so I was wondering if it is easy to get fooled by these repros or if there was an easy way to detect the real ones? Thanks in advance.
If you want to look at real Morgan proofs on eBay, simply search "proof" in the Morgan Dollar section an d then sort the results by price (highest first). That should move any real proofs to the top. I just did a quick search and I see one real Morgan proof near the top. I didn't search the whole list since I am running late for work. But, here is the one proof that was at the top (if you ask me, its not one of the more attractive Morgan proofs I have seen-but its still a proof). http://cgi.ebay.com/1886-PROOF-MORG...1QQihZ003QQcategoryZ39465QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
tribute coins I think the tribute coins are made a lot more like modern proofs with a mirror like finish. the older proofs did not have a deep mirrored surface for the most part.
Why did they make proofs back then? Noone was really interested in saving coins in the 1800s, so what was the point in making a nicer looking coin? Sorry for this noobish question, I just never really knew the answer. -Rob
proofs there were a few proof collectors, but if you look at the numbers, they were quite low. They are desirable now because of the low numbers.
That's not exactly true, there were several periods in the 1800's when coin collecting was extremely popular. Proof coins back then were made specifically for collectors. In fact it was even quite common for Proofs to be struck on request.
