Counterfeit 1849 Liberty Seated Dollar initial research

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by Jack D. Young, Jun 15, 2019.

  1. Jack D. Young

    Jack D. Young Well-Known Member

    This is much of the latest research article to be submitted to Coin Week and if published would be the 20th edition of that series...

    The 1849 is the second silver dollar in this series after the previously documented 1836 Gobrecht fakes and is also another of the holed and repaired varieties. In fact the two raw examples were listed by their respective sellers as “Hole Repair”, which aided in the search not only for these but also several other denominations/ varieties- kind of a reoccurring theme or M.O. for these counterfeiters!

    Like many of the counterfeits we have researched in this series this particular date and variety was listed in a past suspect group of certified “coins” ranging from a couple of now well documented early half cents through the 1927-S Standing Liberty Quarter and several Liberty Seated and Trade Dollars.

    The interesting spin on the subject example was how it was “discovered” over the Holidays in 2016. I had just compared the available images of the 1st one with a genuine example noting the obvious differences- the odd nonparallel damaged shield lines readily stood out as a possible key to finding more. My Son-in-law was visiting at the time and as I explained the process I followed with him I pulled up images of a second example from another certified group and to our amazement this one matched the odd shield lines exactly! Who could have scripted that? The search was then on for more examples with the hope of actually finding the source coin for the dies.

    Quick review of these first two shows a couple of common features on the reverse to help attribute them.

    1.jpg
    Obv example # 4 and example # 5
    2.jpg 3.jpg
    Rev example # 4 and example # 5

    Continued searching quickly resulted in a third certified example found, again determined by comparing the odd shield features.
    4.jpg

    Example # 3

    I then developed the following composite of these three to highlight the common shield “defects” with a rather clumsy numbering system to show they lined up.

    5.jpg

    From here I solicited the help of friend to actually run overlays of the coin images to better illustrate the common marks.

    The following images compare example # 3 to #4 and then to #5- and the shield features line up along with other features

    7.jpg
    Reverse Overlays

    And as is always the case when comparing more examples a second defining feature emerged, the one I refer to as the “Dotted A”!

    8.jpg

    “Dot” over “A” example # 3

    I reviewed my findings with some friends in the Liberty Seated Collectors Club and verified there are no known 1849 Seated Dollar varieties with the dotted A, yet here are three subject examples that do!

    And the search for images of additional examples continued, resulting in discovering an interesting raw example.

    9.jpg

    Example # 1

    The images are poor and grainy with no definition in the shield features but what caught my attention (besides the obvious large hole!) was a number of dents on the reverse. And if this “variety” follows previous ones in this continuing research then more scrutiny is warranted to determine if this could be the damaged source coin.

    The following images show this example compared to example # 3 and a genuine example for reference. It is difficult to verify if the dot over the A is present due to the poor image quality but the obvious dent does appear to match.

    And as expected the genuine example shows no indication of the dot.

    10.jpg
    Focusing on the damaged area it is apparent that after the hole repair the “E” would need to be re-engraved, and the image shows a rather crude letter on example # 3 versus a genuine one.

    11.jpg

    And since I am limited to 10 images I will have to continue with part II!
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Jack D. Young

    Jack D. Young Well-Known Member

    And, continuing...

    12.jpg
    Example # 3 and Genuine example

    Continued review of the holed example relative to example # 3 shows additional matching attribution marks.

    13.jpg
    14.jpg
    Example # 1 Example # 3

    Similar toning and the light coloring in the expected repair areas on both the obverse and reverse suggest example # 3 may be the genuine repaired source coin!

    And as in previous investigations reviewing listings of known Internet sellers of counterfeits resulted in finding another raw example. In July of 2017 this example was listed and the listing was reported and removed prior to a sale. Unfortunately the same one (same images) was listed by a different seller (unknown seller at the time) and sold in December.

    It is interesting to note that one of the main identifying features, the damaged shield lines are not apparent in the images of this example, and there are a number of unique (to this one) dents and scratches added.

    But the easily identifiable “dotted A” feature is rather prominent on this example which helps identify these nearly from “across the room”!

    15.jpg

    16.jpg
    Example # 6 and # 7

    At this time there appear to be at least 5 different examples, and like previously documented “varieties” the 1849 (included in our initial Coin Week article From the Brink to the Dark Side) also started with the purchase of a damaged genuine coin that was repaired and used to make the counterfeit dies. And like others in this series the repairs were accomplished with apparent skill until compared to images of known genuine examples where the affected details betray the efforts of the counterfeiters!

    More research articles/attribution pages are in process; the focused Team of watchers/ researchers including our Face Book “Dark Side” members continues to be vigilant in the documentation and communication of these latest deceptive threats to our hobby.

    We can all draw our own conclusions about what is real or what is “Memorex”, but I am convinced more than one of these is counterfeit! I would ask that the readers be on the look-out for other duplicate examples and REPORT them; as with others we have documented in this series the chance is high there are more “out there”!

    As always, the research continues to be a collaborative effort with many EAC members and friends participating.

    Best regards,

    Jack
     
  4. Jack D. Young

    Jack D. Young Well-Known Member

    Completed article submitted to Coin Week; if published it will be the 20th article in the series.
     
    furham likes this.
  5. coloradobryan

    coloradobryan Well-Known Member

    Great work!
     
    Jack D. Young likes this.
  6. coloradobryan

    coloradobryan Well-Known Member

    It shows we have to pay careful attention to all coins.
     
    Jack D. Young likes this.
  7. Jack D. Young

    Jack D. Young Well-Known Member

    Especially in today's climate coloradobryan!
     
  8. Jack D. Young

    Jack D. Young Well-Known Member

Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page