Among the many coins my late father left is this 1893 S Morgan Dollar. I have read that there are a lot of fakes, and I'm curious whether these pics allow for an educated opinion ?
It looks to be altered (added mint mark). The date is in the wrong position for a genuine 93-S, and the mint mark looks like it might be a bit small, although the picture is quite dark. If you go to the VAMWorld 1893-S page, you'll see die markers for the real thing. There was only one obverse die used and two reverses.
@Jack D. Young is an expert on counterfeit coins. Contact him. I think @messydesk is also a Morgan Dollar expert but I'm not 100% sure. There's others but I don't recall the names. Welcome to Coin Talk.
Excellent post sir. For all of Cointalk I thank you. Great to have real experts on here. I am not an expert on these, the only thing I noticed was the darkness all around the MM, which is always a red flag on a rare coin where similar dates exist.
I noticed that too. Is it dark on the coin or a shadow from the photo process? @Ben88 is it possible to get a better photo?
Ben88, can you see the die markers on "RT" per image below? Maybe you can take a close-up image of that area? Best, Jack.
The '3' actually looks OK to me. Size, shape, spacing relative to the 9 are right. Probably an altered 1893 VAM 5. The strike is too good for 93-O.
Thank you for all the comments ... the membership of this forum is amazing and I truly appreciate the help. I’ll try to post better pics, but it’s not looking too good for the coin !
Notice how the 1 in the date lines up with the denticle under it. Then compare with a genuine example. Considering all examples were struck with a single obverse die, that is evidence that it is either altered or a fake.
