my apologies for the terrible photo but would you consider this authentic or do you see details pointing to a counterfeit in your opinion. Thank you.
I don't see anything that appears to be anything other than genuine, however I am not an expert at the series.
I don’t see anything that would make me doubt it’s authenticity. The only thing I do see is the mark on Ms. Liberty’s cheek which could prevent it from getting a grade. It’s in a focal point, and that’s not good. The base grade of the piece is AU. Here is my 1851-C gold dollar. PCGS graded it MS-63. I think that the diagnostics match with your piece.
Thanks to All and especially @johnmilton. I think I’ll send it to pcgs and keep my fingers crossed for a straight grade.
There's few coins I would spend $$$ to get graded. But this is one of them. Not only would I be curious about the grade, I'd want to slab it for the coin protection and future sale if I decided to sell it. I think the last thing on my mind would be authenticity. If I had any doubts, I would check online to see if other similar coins had been found that proved dubious. Otherwise, I'd settle that I have a great coin in a great collection.
Beautiful coin. I’m jealous. Charlotte gold is on my bucket list...... I do hope you will update the thread when you get it back. Lovely piece!
The 1851-C gold dollar is one of the most common of all Charlotte gold coins. Over half of the Type I gold dollars that the Charlotte Mint issued were dated 1851-C. it is the most common Charlotte coin in AU and Mint State. The mintage was 41,267. For most 19th century coins, that would be the makings of a key date, but for the Charlette Mint, it's "high."
Authentic coin - diagnostic weakness in the "A" of Dollar for the variety. As JM noted - the '51-C $1 is not only the most common Charlotte mint $1, it is THE most common Charlotte coin of any denomination, with over 900 graded between PCGS & NGC alone. That's not to say it's not a desirable piece (great Charlotte $1 type coin) and certainly rarer than its Philly & New Orleans sisters. It looks to be a nice coin for the grade (low MS/High AU) but for the mark on the cheeks. At a minimum a TPG will net-grade it (straight grade, but bump its actual grade down) or worse - details grade it due to that mark.
Coin is now at pcgs so hopefully ill have a update later next week. Thanks to everyone for the info and opinions.
The coin arrived back last Friday. The True-view arrived today. A little disappointed in the Details grade (AU details/ damage) although I understand why. All in all I think its eye appeal is high compared to most of the details C mint coins I've seen offered for sale.
Aside from the face mark & the LA damage, this is a very beautiful coin. And I would think that any collector would be proud to have it in their collection.
Does everyone see the 3 die cracks on the reverse? Granted, the one under the A/STATES could be a die scratch/ gouge, but the one under the mint mark next to the rim travels 25% of the rim! And the one between F/OF and AM/AMERICA is too non-linear to be a plain ol’ die scratch. (IMHO) I don’t think the cracks lend any extra value, but they are crucial for die pair identification. And just to have a gold coin from Charlotte!...@chromerunner , you be choppin’ tall cotton, buddy. Great coin and excellent post...Spark