Hello everyone, Well I did it again I found myself at this pawn shop which has coins and goodness I bought more than I should have. I'm no expert in the first place on what to look for all I saw was silver, so I bought dimes, quarters and nickels & dollars. Also found an 1810 8 Real but not sure if it is a dollar also from the American History Society. Couldn't resist buying this 1883 coin for $10.00 was wondering if it was worth it, there are more and thought about going back but not sure, your thoughts please. Thank you
Why would a pawn shop sell a silver dollar at less than silver worth? ($11) For a coin in very good condition (AU) this is a $40 coin. Pawn shops are not naive about that.
It only takes one naive employee. And, believe me, there are plenty. In general, MOST pawn shops I've visited have over-priced coins on display. That's because when they're under-priced, they sell quickly, and then they aren't on display any more! If they mistakenly price a coin at twice its value, it'll sit there in the cabinet for a long time. If they mistakenly price it at half its value, the first person to spot it gets a deal. For the OP's coin, I'd say check it with a magnet and a scale, but if it looks good, go see whether they have any others they'll sell at the same price!
But use caution as the pawn shop may have first purchased these with silver plate and then found the weight was off and dumped them into the box. China is now silver plating many coins and even making some of silver ( higher priced )ones. Check them carefully. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Zou...-Replica-Coins-Can-Choose-Any/1943685336.html
Have to ask...why a magnet and what would be the weight of this coin would I be looking for? Sorry I'm really not a dedicated coin collector, I know a few things to look for in coins like silver and RPM's. I appreciate everyone's expert opinions it does help. Thank you
Many fakes are struck on iron and then silver-plated; they're attracted to a magnet. Pawn shops certainly do get fakes, and sometimes they "accidentally" put them out without labeling them. Nominal weight for a Morgan dollar is 26.73 grams. Fakes are often lighter than that, or thicker (than the standard 2.4mm).
So recently I bought a 90% Silver Commemorative Half Dollar 1732-1982 George Washington Proof which came in this box. When I went to take it out there was this paper folded at the bottom (I don't think anyone realized it was there) the yellow paper said SALE TICKET our ebay seller name is Best pawnmn. Beautiful coin I have to say $10.00, thank you for your opinion
The Washingon commemorative halves are nice. They're also pretty common, so you can get them cheaper if you're patient, but $10 isn't a bad price. Current silver melt value for them is $5.17. Current silver melt value for Morgan dollars is $11.05, and even damaged ones usually sell for more than that. They're popular enough to bring more than melt value, usually much more.
Jeff B, I did the magnet test and it did not stick to the magnet and I weighed the coin it's 32.5 grams. So I'm thinking it's good right?
I've gotten half a dozen coins that I've each later sold in the $500-$1000 range for under $1 a piece at pawn shops. I've gotten so many under $10 coins that sold in the $100-$300 range that I couldn't even guess. What you're overlooking is that coins are not the main business of most pawn shops. Some shops will try and look up a coin to get a general idea for pricing if they can attribute it correctly, but most shops do not employ someone who can grade coins. If they can buy a coin for $0.50 and sell it for $1 they've doubled their money and are happy, and they don't generally look farther than that. Many shops don't even care about numismatic value and simply buy and sell at a set percentage under/over melt.
You'll need to remove it from the plastic capsule. Your scale says the coin and capsule together weigh 32.5 grams, but we don't know how much of that is the capsule and how much is the coin. Looking at your photos, though, I don't see anything that makes me believe it's fake.
Take it out of the capsule, test the weight against something known to make sure the scale is accurate, then weigh it. From first glance it looks legit to me, but make sure to check the weight.
Morning Jeffb & Silver Dollar 2017 Thank you for the information. I weighed the coin out of the capsule and happy to say it is 26.73 it's a keeper! Thanks again I love this site and appreciate expert opinions.
