I've searched the forum and couldn't get a definate answer, so I wanted to post my own...I've included a picture of my find. I've looked and looked and looked and I can't find anything to ensure it's real or fake...so I'll get everyone's opinion in here... I'm taking it to a coin shop pretty soon so I can see what they think. Thanks alot.
it's definitely counterfeit. It's a copy of a confederate half dollar. Restrikes of these were made and these were referred to as scott restrikes. You can read a little more about them here: http://www.coinfacts.com/confederate_coins/1861_scott_restrike.htm The reason I believe yours is counterfeit is the details are not nearly as sharp as a struck coins would be, and some of the details are wrong. I can say with 99.99% certainty that your coin is neither a genuine or a restrike example Nonetheless it is a very neat find, many find counterfeits more interesting than their original counterparts.
I believe it is a fake, and not a particularly good one, either -- not coming close to the quality of the Scott restrikes...MIke
Can you provide better close up pictures of the Obverse and Reverse and crop out the background? This would give us a better idea to the condition and appearance of the coin. Also, is the coin a metal detecting find that was cleaned and somewhat polished? I ask, as the appearance of the dirty areas in and around the design elements, leads me to believe that the coin was in the ground for many, many years! If the coin is a metal detecting that you somewhat cleaned and polished, then it would have been better off to leave the coin dirty. In most cases, you should never clean a coin and especially one that is potentially very valueable! If the coin is in fact a real Confederate Half Dollar or even a Scott Restrike, it would have been better to have the coin professionally restored by NCS then Certified and Graded by them or NGC and could mean the difference of several thousand dollars in value. Frank
Frank, I think that the color is from the background and lighting and not the actual color of the coin! Frank
