So.....I guess I am lost. Are we discussing the OP's coin, a heritage coin, or something else? Anyone have a scorecard and help a brother out? In the meantime I am going to go make a sammich.
OP, if you send it in and its a fake, I'll buy you a beer next time you're in town. Assuming, of course, that you figure out which town this is...
OP, listen to reason here. Several people, with a level a numismatic expertise, way beyond me, is saying it's fake. I don't even know a whole lot about Morgans, and I'm even pointing out it's fake. It will cost $30 to send it in to PCGS, (unless of course you want to wait a solid month), $8 for Handling, and $16.95 for shipping. When it's all said and done, your going to blow over $50, just to have them say "we cannot holder this coin, it's a fake". Now, the best thing you can do, is take the coin to a jeweler, and have them acid test. I'm not talking about the kind where they drop acid onto the coin, but the one where they rub the edge of the coin on a stone. This will not harm the coin. If the acid states there is silver, THEN go from there, as most fakes are not made of silver. It shouldn't cost anything to have this done. I'm not trying to put you down, but I just don't want to see you waste the money. If it's silver, then the chance of it being real increases. It's not 100%, but it's better than being 9 pages deep in a thread.
For a definitive answer, I don't think even $100 would be too much. If you are willing to take the risk to buy this coin, don't stop short.
If it were me, I would still want an expert opinion. No offense, Detecto, but your opinion and my opinion don't count. Chris
The OP posted on another site that it is a fake. He counted the reeds and it has 189 instead of the 177 it is supposed to have. Its ok Rob Oz we have all made mistakes.
Well, sorry to hear it's fake but everyone has to learn a lesson different ways. Some of us have paid too much for coins and some have bought fakes either way we all learn lessons. Welcome to the forum. :thumb:
I knew I've seen that die crack before. http://www.vamworld.com/1889-P+VAM-9 (See pic 5). If the reed count is 189 that's a match for 1889 P. I'd say it's either VAM 9 or 43A. So the coin is one of two things; a genuine 1889-P with an added CC mint mark, or it's a counterfeit, and a '89-P was used to make the die. I'm leaning towards added mint mark.
There has only been one time in the last 3 years, that a rare coin was found and presented here on CoinTalk, for an opinion. It was a MS grade Railroad Rim Morgan found in an old album. Afterwards, it's discovery became a major article in several of the coin magazines. I believe it auctioned for about five figures.
Good work, Raider! I'm leaning toward an added mintmark, too. It's just too hard for the Chinese to duplicate cracks. Chris
It looks like the VAM-43A. Note that the crack meets toward the middle of the upper crossbar of the "E". On the VAM-9 it contacts the "E" at the end of the crossbar. Chris
The entire coin is fake. Unless proven otherwise, the Chinese do not consider reed count when minting coins. It's a fake 89-CC dollar, with 189 reeds.