Are my seated liberty and morgans fake?

Hi!

My name is Erik, I'm from Sweden and I found this forum from a slightly different angle. I'm a magician and during a trip on Borneo I happened to stumble across an old man selling mobile phone cards who happend to have a box of old coins. I picked out all american one dollar coins I could find as these are excellent size for magic. When I showed my colleagues my findings they told me I apparently made a bargain for some pretty expensive coins (20 - 200$). I paid about 2$ / coin so that sounds a bit to good to be true.

Some coins I bought are obviously fake ( trade dollars with invalid type/ age combinations) but I can't find anything obvious wrong with these.. Maybe the low weight of the seated is enough?

The seated weights about 25.89 grams and morgan 26.64.

If they are fake, are they worth anything of can I safely use them as give-aways?

If I totally made a fool of myself and posted this in the wrong forum etc, I'm sorry :/ please let me know.. I'm new here.

Br / Erik Agrell Sweden

 

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I can't tell by looking at your coins whether they are genuine or fake, but can say that, at $2 each, either you found an uninformed seller or they actually are fake. Given those two options, common sense would call them fake.

 

Do you think anybody would sell genuine Seated dollars for about $2? Already the coin's silver content would be more valuable than that.

And as you were suspecting, the low weight alone is an indication that it's very likely a counterfeit.

 

I'm no expert on either type but for $2 a piece I would pretty much bet on them being fake.
Even the story...random guy in Borneo selling phone cards just happens to have a box of old US coins?
Remember the old saying: "If it looks to good to be true, it probably is."

 

The Morgan dollars are definitely counterfeit. I can say that with certainty. I can't say for certain if the seated dollars are fake... I feel strongly that they are.... but can't be 100% from those pictures... but with the story they are almost certainly fake as well.

 

Well, it wasn't like he was trying to sell me anything.. Old man with a small roadside shop. Stamps seemed to be his interest, I saw the coins and asked if I could take a look. He priced them according to how shiny they were. The most expensive ones I bought was a couple of hong kong dollars from 1970. He was definitely uninformed ( and so was I ) therefore this post.

LostDutchman, how can you see this? Just so I can learn..

To be clear, value : 0 right?

Thanks all for your comments.

 

The Morgan dollars aren't right the 1847 seated too you can see roughness from casting by the date I'm saying considering the source the 1843 is too but it's a pretty good one I just can't tell conclusively from the pics. Still for the price and for your magic tricks they'll make for an interesting conversation piece

 

Seated dollars at almost a full gram underweight? How could they NOT be fake?.

 

Condor, I have no idea.. I'm a magician, not a coin collector, that's why I asked here.

And thanks a lot for the info Mainbill!

 

WHY do people who have been told not to buy uncertified coins do so, if they don't know the series continue to make the same mistake over and over again? This is especially true if they buy from dealers who are not scrupulously honest--yes, those coins are counterfeit, and not even good fakes.

 

Don't be so hard on the OP. It seems as though that purchase was the OPs first. Probably never bought coins before and never had any thought of buying coins until he saw those.

Still, at $2 each, it wasn't a great loss. As a magic prop and giveaways, not really a bad deal.

OP, if you do want to get into collecting US coins, buy a copy of the Red Book before making any more buys.

 

Morgandude.. Well mostly since couldn't care less about certified / fake or not. For 2$ those are way cheaper than the eisenhover I usually buy in Sweden. I bought about 60 coins of different type and after giving away about 20 I got curious. I thought it was a good idea to ask here, since you probably knew straight away. That thought not seems to be a mistake.

Thanks a lot to those of you who took the time to give me a decent answer, really appreciate it! I think a stay away from this forum now.

 

You asked honestly if they were fake, and I answered. I hope you don't stay away from the forum because you didn't like my answer, but I told the truth. Please take the advice for what it was intended--I hate to see people lose money on coins that are not worth anything--nothing more, and nothing less.

 

And thanks rickmp, if I decide to collect I will certainly buy that book.

 

This was a MAGICIAN, looking for PROPS. On what occasion do you suppose he had been "told not to buy uncertified coins"?

If I'm looking for large coins to use in magic performances, do you recommend PCGS or NGC slabs? Of course, I wouldn't think of disappointing my audience with something in ANACS plastic...

 

He indicated that he was a magician, but also wondered if the coins had value. Guess you didn't read that too clearly. He was told that they were fakes, so it was a dual purpose question.

 

Yes. But when he was buying them, he wasn't at all concerned with their numismatic value; it was only when his colleagues started asking about them that he became curious.

Your first reply in this thread started with:

From the OP's first post, it was clear that:

(a) He had not ever been warned about uncertified coins -- to him, these were attractive tokens.

(b) He bought these once, not "over and over again".

(c) He was asking here out of curiosity, not looking for reassurance that he'd gotten a bargain or hadn't been ripped off.

...but I "guess you didn't read that too clearly."

He received a few helpful and friendly responses, and a rant about how he should have known better, since everyone apparently is supposed to know about coin certification. Do you see how this could be a little off-putting?

 

Whatever. I am not going to have a battle of wits with an unarmed man. We get endless posts from newbies asking if their counterfeit or cleaned coins are of any value. So, what I find off-putting is your condescension, not the responses to the OP regarding coins that are valueless. If you don't like my responses, just don't read or respond to them--my mission is to see that newbies don't get misinformation about coins.

 

I am quite sure the seated dollars are fakes as well.

 

Morgandude - Your original comment was rude and uncalled for. It's a wonder anyone ever starts collecting coins when they ask a question and get a response like yours.