Is This 1904-S Barber Half in high grade authentic?

No. Just, no.

Look at the obverse stars, especially the two adjacent to the date.

Look at the drunken "0 4" in the date.

Look at the smeared final A of AMERICA, and the smeared dot following it.

Look at the claw holding the arrows, and the arrow fletching. (Actually, look at where they would be, if they weren't replaced with a featureless wad of metal.)

Look at the weakness across the top of STATES, and compare it to the detail in the wings.

Look at the DENTICLES. Always look at the denticles.

 

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I would say that the good experts here are right. I missed the diagnostics, and agree with them its fake, especially after seeing the second listing. I looked at the 1904, saw a badly whizzed "coin", and stopped there before responding.

That you everyone else who are smarter than I am on these pointing these things out for the OP.

 

Thank you guys, I really do appreciate the expert knowledge. The description also threw me off

"1904-s Barber Half Dollar. Bidding starts at $20, don't know what it's worth, I will let the bidders determine that. Pictures are of the exact coin you will receive"

As if he couldn't type into google 1904-S half dollar value...

Unfortunately I have already placed the order but I messaged the seller and told him that I will immediately be returning it if he ships it out.

Something tells me the seller knew these were fakes

 

Sounds that way.

 

So it got smooshed? I can’t even see over 1/3 of the denticles because it’s not a straight on photo.

 

Yes. This seller is peddling nothing but fakes. He should be reported to the secret service.

If you can’t tell that these are fakes, you need to stop buying coins until you can tell the difference. I’m not trying to be mean; I’m trying to protect you

 

+1

 

People who are selling coins know what they are worth.
A real 1904-S is a key/ semi-key date with only a little over half a million minted.
If it is available for less than book value, you have to ask yourself has it been cleaned, damaged, is it authentic?
There are deals out there, but you really need to be an expert to spot the good opportunities. Most other people are just ripe for some predator to take advantage of. Greed is a mysterious thing to me. And it seems everyone is affected by it.
While I may not have spotted the OP coin as fake, the graininess was something I noticed and I would not have been a buyer for that reason.

 

Two rarer date Barber Half Dollars with the exact same odd finishes. What are the odds.

 

Screams FAKE!

 

These are crude compared to the Chinese Walkers on E-bay

 

Here’s mine that I sold many moons ago when the value peaked (Both Mike Hayes from ATS & I sold ours at about the same time).

 

Not necessarily. I bought a BU 1910 S cent for $30 because the seller thought it was just a 1910. But it requires knowledge to sell which sellers are just ignorant and which are trying to rip you off

 

If I saw a genuine 1904-S half with MS details, no matter how badly the surfaces had been worked over, I'd be willing to spend several hundred on it, because I know I'd be able to flip it for multiples of that.

Lots of people seem to think impaired coins are worthless. Buy from those people. Then sell (honestly) to those who can appreciate a coin with nice detail in spite of its flaws. There's money to be made, and/or interesting and delightful coins to be had.

 

You share my frustrations.

Some collectors/dealers saw these coins and could not see past the damage. One dealer said he would not pay more than $20 for the large cent...

 

That dealer is nuts IMO. There's a lot of detail left on that cent. I'd love to have one like it.

 

Surface looks way too rough to me, grainy is the right word thanks to John Milton above.

 

I don't disagree that there are details coins that are discounted,
and details key dates leave room for profit.
I would have been scared off by the granularity (if that's a more correct word than graininess) as it would be an indication to me that it might be bad. It just looked too porous to me to be genuine and still in that condition.
As for the coin itself, I didn't know if it was real or fake, but my instincts said pass.

 

Yup, and that's why that dealer didn't get to make any money on it.

Someone wanted this poor thing enough to pay more than 50% of the value of an unimpaired example:




Impaired as it is, it's still a proof-only issue, mintage 900. I was happy to have found it an appreciative home. I was also happy to have bought it as scrap, but it's the "finding it a home" happiness that lasts.

 

Buy only from trusted dealers or in an legitimate 'slab........