An Interesting not-PCGS 1893-O Morgan Dollar

A friend asked me if I was interested in reviewing this 1893-O Morgan. He stated he had purchased it and sent it to PCGS for grading, but it came back body-bagged as counterfeit!


Owner’s images

Images weren’t great but it appeared it might be the wrong reverse for the date and mint. He offered to send it to me for an in-hand review, and I was happy to accept.

When received I spent part of my day off morning reviewing it. Weight came in at 27.0 g and it tested silver on a Sigma.



But it appears to have the wrong reverse for the date and mint; '93-O's are C3's with the wing gap and berry shown in the following image. This one is a C4; I understand the transition to C4 didn't happen until 1901 for the New Orleans mint.



There are 2 reverses for the genuine VAMs, the "O" on this one doesn't match either; both position, shape and tilt are wrong.



And there are a number of odd-looking issues including the “D” and the "3" in the date.





Interestingly the reverse of the coin in hand does NOT appear to match the selling forum images from the owner...

Best, Jack.

 

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So? Is it something special or a counterfeit?

 

Definitely a counterfeit. Looks like the images from the original seller were for a different (fake) received...

 

I'll take credit for contributing this to your Hall of Shame Morgan dollars. I'm honored to have such an esteemed member of the numismatic integrity community taking the time to examine and put out a caveat emptor public service message. Thank you Jack!