Check out this fake Seated Dollar

Check it out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1872-CC-SEATED-LIBERTY-SILVER-DOLLAR-/111768397431?hash=item1a05ea6677

Been reported.

 

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At least the hair looks genuine (11 o'clock, obverse).

 

I'm not overly familiar with this series. What are the tells?

 

For one thing, the fields look like a 3rd-rate sand casting. Grossly inconsistent detail between the shield and Liberty's face. However, these are not specific to Seated Dollars, just general observations.

 

The overall graininess of the surfaces and occasional indistinct detail - in places where Seated Dollars shouldn't have indistinct detail - are the best tells. For this issue - only 3150 minted - it's known that 2 obverses were prepared, but only one used. The sole reverse die was carried over from 1870.

The coin in this auction does not match that die pair either for date location or mint mark location. The very first step to determining authenticity is to compare to known-good samples, and the Heritage Archives are a wonderful place to do so.

 

A bad fake . Hopefully the lawsuit against eBay will stop this junk from appearing any more .

 

The fields tell you right off that it is a fake.

 

The seller claims the coin was found with a metal detector

 

This would be the seller's third Feedback nick for selling a counterfeit, in 13 total sales. That says all it should have to.

 

There appears to be a flawed casting mark at about 4 o'clock on the obverse.

So, did you report it?

 

Yes I did, maybe if someone else agrees it might get removed.

 

I reported it as well. Normally I contact the seller first if there's evidence of their innocence - rehabilitation is less final than punishment - but in this case their record says all I need to know.

Not that we should hold our breath waiting for Ebay to fly to our aid.

 

I just found another fake on Ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1840-Seated...d-condition-/191688378942?hash=item2ca1848a3e

 

I wish I had a dollar for every fake coin on Ebay. There is very little effort by Ebay to stop the sale of fake coins.
I've given up trying to inform the sellers, most of them know the coins are fake or don't care.
Buyers need to be careful and have a good gram scale and weigh any coin you buy. Many of the fakes are off on the weight.

 

The seller has the coin on a private listing, biding status which to me is always a red flag. I wish Ebay would do away with that private listing crap.