1873 trade dollar

I would say that counterfeits are NORMALLY legal to own but not to sell as genune, but his coin appears to be one of the recent Chinese fakes (last ten to fifteen years) and THEY are illegal to own as they come under the regulations of the HPA and as such being unmarked it IS illegal to own. (Contemporary counterfeits or unmarked copies made before 1973 are legal to own) Those made AFTER 1973 and unmarked are not legal to own.

I'm fairly sure that is correct, I'd have to review the HPA to be sure.

 

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I didn't know they made that distinction , Thanks again Conder .

 

ok thanks ive never came across the fake money thing and jail or prison just isn't my cup of tea but you learn something new every day so thanks again.

 

thanks I put it the trash compacter, thanks again for the info

 

Perhaps it wasn't an option, but I do hope it at least crossed your mind, before destroying it, if it would be possible to try to get your money back.

 

ya I have already learned a thing or two , I look up to people with wisdom that can teach me so one day I can pass it on thanks again.

 

no it was a friend of a friend type thing but I chalked it up no big

 

I'm NOT fussing at you or the member who supplied accurate info about the law; however, IMO your action was really unfortunate. Now it seems that the only thing you learned for your money is about a law that virtually no one follows.

These unmarked recent counterfeits are all over the place! Many of the collectors who have them know they are fakes. At one ANA Summer Seminar an entire classroom was filled with all types of these fakes and the dies that made some of them!

If you come across another somehow in the in the future, you may wish to keep it for your own reference so you can learn how to detect these things. Otherwise you may wish to give it to a coin club, the ANA, or another collector.

Only "good" I can imagine from your action is that counterfeit is going to be found one day (possibly when the metal is separated from the trash) and cause quite a stir when it is. I wish I could be a beer can in the pile to see what happens at the plant. Who knows, we may even be able to add another collector to the world when he tries to find out what he found.