Real or Fake? 1862 S seated half dollar

Look real to me

 

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On NGC, Mark Feld thinks it's real.
On CU, seven post called it real. One called it real but damaged. I agree with the damage.
I'll repost back as the post roll in.

 

Looks like the OP may have a genuine coin. Sometimes a flea market vendor will sell an item in which he has no expertise... and the buyer ends up a big winner. It doesn't happen as often as it use to, but it does happen.

 

On a triple digit electric and calibrated gram scale, what is the weight?

Hey, if they made it of a 90% silver planchet and it is the right size and weight, at $5 he still got a steal. Just melt it down and sell it as a 90% silver nugget.

 

It is a part of the total picture. The purchase price is very much arguable circumstantial evidence. As the judge said if the price sounded too good to be true, it probably was.

 

I see your point. It's wise to look at all the information possible when buying coins. When something don't look right, you should walk away or get more information from others.

 

In all honesty, weigh the silly thing. It should be within a few tenths or hundredths of the correct weight and the size should be correct also. It should weigh 12.44 grams (you can possibly accept anything from 12.38 up to 12.45, coins do wear and lose weight when they do, but some would argue on that and reject an otherwise perfect coin that only weighed 12.38). It should be 30.6 mm in diameter. The edge should be reeded. It may very well turn out to be real, but all we can tell from a picture is, if it is a fake copy, it is of better quality than many. Frankly, I love the idea of it being a $5 fake, but made of actual 90% silver, with a lot of time and trouble wasted by someone to get it looking real only to let it go for less than the silver melt value ($7.06 at today's price).

 

Good luck with your deployment!
(I'm active Air Force in Korea)

 

I'd have to completely disagree with you on all of that. If it's fake, it's quite a high quality one.

 

To each its own. Have it authenticated by PCGS or NGC, and then let's see what separates the sheep from the goats.

 

The fact it was sold for $5 proves nothing; the seller may have been unaware of the value or mistakenly believed it to be fake. The price the OP bought it for is neither here nor there in terms of whether or not it's genuine.

Look at the COIN not the PRICE TAG and make your determination from that. I see nothing that screams at being obviously fake, so if it's a fake, it's a good one. It may be worth sending to a TPG just to get an expert opinion, regardless of what that opinion turns out to be. At best you'll find out you got a great bargain; at worst you get a decent education in detecting fakes. Either way $5 + the grading fee sounds like an OK deal to me.

(P.S. If it turns out to be a genuine 90% silver but still a fake minting, you still came out on top for $5 lol...)

 

It happens I bought 2 capped bust halves from a picker I do business with regularly bought them instantly when he said $100 was a vf 1832 and an xf 1836 he bought them at a tag sale for $10 many people know absolutely nothing about coins

 

As to yours looks totally real to me probably grade details tho as I see hairlining due to an improper cleaning and scratches on libertys breast nice pick up tho just cause a coin is uncertified and was cheap doesn't always mean fake the best advice is to study known fakes and educate yourself on what to look for

 

Thank you, sir; and that we can do, but no red books… I'd like a fighting chance. j/k

(Sorry for the delayed response)

 

Has the OP measured its weight or taken it to a shop yet?

 

Quality references can be of the utmost value in authenticating, and this is especially true for an example that passes beyond the obvious. Case in point: think of how much The Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace Dollars has contributed in this respect.

He shipped out just after Christmas, so we may not hear back from him (at least for a while). Additional evidence would be nice though.