I received a whole mess of coins for xmas. I noticed a couple of odd things on a couple of coins. I was going to send them in to get graded, but don't want to spend the $$$ to find out they are fakes. ... If they are legit, what would you say about the grade? Maybe mid to high 60's. I tried to weigh them today but my lame scale rounds to nearest 5. Also did the ring test. They had a long sustain. There also non-magnetic. I included the reverse sides for reference to legitimacy and condition. ... on the half, the red arrow points to small layered piece over the sun. on the dollar there is an odd line that doesn't look right The images are fairly large are and I'm not sure on how to code it for a small picture link in forum code. So you get a link ... also the pics are a bit dark. Morgan Dollar: http://getsomeframes.com/nonstore/home pc backup/5_1898_Dr_obrv.png Walking Liberty: http://getsomeframes.com/nonstore/home pc backup/5_1937s_hr_obrv.png
The first one i'm not sure about. Looks suspicious. The second one could have a lamination right there (metal sticking up). I've got a quarter that has a spot like that.
The morgan looks like a vam 9 slanted date. But you could always check here http://www.vamworld.com/1898-P+VAM-9 For the polishing marks to compare.
I have no real reason to suspect either is counterfeit, but the Chinese are pretty much making fakes of everything these days. I would get an accurate weight and check for any inconsistancies in the reeded edge of the coins. If you are really bored (or laid off), you could try measuring the specific gravity of them. By the way, I really suck at getting accurate results at that last one!!!
Thanks for the reply's guys... I am pretty new to the coin world.... I had to look up clashing and vams. So, after an extensive 20 min. reseach on the VAMworld website, I took my newly trained eye to the coin again :kewl:. I did not find any signs clashing. Seriously though, my eyes aren't keen enough to spot that kind of stuff yet.... I'm gonna half to buy a loupe and a proper scale. Does any one have any low cost, semi-decent quality recommendations for either? I do se the slanted date on the Morgan though. Also, there is a crack or line on the edge of the Morgan, I put a red line to show where it's at. what could that be from? I think I found something similar here. Is that pretty much the same thing? Looks like it to me.. The reeded edges look very uniform. What do you guys think that flake in the Sun is from on that half? Is it a commonly occurring thing? Geez!!! Seems like there is so darn many things to learn. And this is just 2 out of the bazillion coins I recieved..... I can hardly imagine going through them to look for all the different VAM varieties!!!! Thanks again for your replies!!!! Jonathan
The walking liberty looks fine, that cover on the sun could be a die chip. The Morgan is a different story. It looks better than some but you need to wait to see what others say about that Morgan. Could be real but I just don't know. Why did you start thinking anything was fake? Were they bought on ebay?
Thanks for all the feedback folks. From the responses here, it seems like they're legit. @ fretboard , Well I was looking online and started reading about counterfeit coins. Then I noticed a couple little things on a few of my coins. So I thought I would get some educated opinions. No, these are not from ebay. They were from a larger pile left to my mother.
