The weight is good, Its not magnetic, The date and mint line up with die pair B pictures. Things I'm looking at are the funny rim line at the top, the pitting of the silver at higher magnification. Any experts out there?
The date looks all wrong to me when comparing it to the pics on this site. http://www.barbercoins.org/1901SBQ.html
I'm leaning to fake , just from looking at the obverse pics as I've never seen a real Barber with details that weak and mushy .
Was this piece dug up by a detectorist? That would explain some of the pitting I see.And the liberal coating of sand too.
Here's one to compare . The 1901-S is one of the most faked Barbers , the details just aren't sharp enough unless like said it was a dug coin and the sand wore them down . But I find that unlikely . Compare the angle of her nose , the ops coin is curved where this coin is straighter . Also look at the lack of detail in the protected areas , coins just don't wear that way , that's from a lack of detail in minting , most likely from a casting . Image View: Normal | Medium | Large
I really want it to be real... But I really don't think it is. I never see the '01-S in any better than G. Rare bird.
There are exactly 2 obverse and 2 reverse dies for this date. This coins looks to be Obverse B and the first reverse, which would make it appear genuine, but it's grainy appearance makes it more suspect as a cast coin. I would like to offer a picture that I took of an article from Coin World January 8, 2001. I believe that by siting the source, it is legal to share it here. If the mods feel it necessary, I will ask Steve Roach (the current Editor In Chief) for permission.
A casting is one way to atone for the lack of detail in the protected areas of the coin . I've never seen a coin lose details in the protected areas .
the granularity is so uniform in size and stippling...exactly what you would expect to see from a sand casting that wasn't turned in a rock tumbler to smooth it out. IMHO is an el fakeo.
