Hi all, I have inherited this coin and as I do not know a lot about silver dollars I would love to use your knowledge. I have done some simple test with regards to the weight, sound and used a magnet not leading to any strange observation. I took the photos without any daylight, actually the colors on the coin are much lighter. Does any of you see signs that this could be a fake one? Your help would be much appreciated. Regards, Tspoon
Thanks for your reply. I am new to this, can you help me understand the difference in data with for example this coin below? http://www.ebay.com/itm/1844-Seated...501110?hash=item33c42b40f6:g:jqYAAOSwux5YQyDD
I don't either. I had a tough time getting both images the same size. The date on the OP coin does look to be larger in relation to the rim and the base of Liberty.
Go to the Dick Osburn coin site. He has an online book that will allow you to verify the marriage. If it isn't there, then it is probably fake.
10$ scale says 26,93. I must say the font of the date looks a little funny when comparing it to other photos. Is it at least safe to assume the coin is .900 silver?
I am surprised the weight is that close, but the counterfeiters are improving their methods as we speak. Are there no shows or large coin shops in your area? Someone will have an x-ray gun that will tell you the fineness of the metals in your coin. Maybe a pawn shop will have one? With the 44 in the date being that low along with shallow look of the obverse, the coin is most likely not real regardless of metallic content.
I am no expert here!! But, this is an interesting one to me. Before checking out the varieties listed on Osburns site, I looked at several examples on HA.com. To me, it looks like there are more than the two obverse dies (I didn't really look at the reverse) Osburn describes. Based on Osburns site, I'd say that this doesn't fit the known dies, but, based on what I saw looking at HA.com, I'd say it's possible (though unlikely) that it's real. There was at least one coin on HA that I thought looked somewhat close. I'd recommend taking this to someone to review in hand or perhaps sending it to Osburn for his opinion.
I'd agree that I'd show it to a local dealer for an opinion before writing it off as fake, but the 44 has a very distinctive shield and this one does not match.
The stands if the 4's below the crossbars are longer than on the genuine coins, and a line drawn up along the right edge of the upright of the 1 intersects the shield lines too far to the left.
Fairly accurate example, I have no doubt the fakers are producing examples much better though. It's a date where you almost see more copies than real ones.... Not a bad idea to own a few graded Seated Dollars before buying one raw, just so you can get a feel for what's right and what's wrong. Here are a few things I see:
This coin is fake. The devices have a grainy texture that should stike fear in your heart. All business-strike 1844's have a DDO that manifests in the shield. This does not have it.
The coin in the op has a lot of granularity that makes me think it is a transfer die forgery. I have 2 genuine ones for comparison,
