I don't see this as a difficult quiz, which the title claims it to be, if it's number 4. Like others have mentioned, that one just says "morgan dollar" to me. Sooooo.....where's the answer?
This is a tough one. 4 looks the most natural until you notice the spacing is odd. There are Morgans with overlapping reed segments, but those came from a slip in the cutting of the reeds in the collar getting them out of phase as the reeds continue to be cut around the collar. This looks like a small segment of reeding was shifted by about 1/4 of a reed. 1 looks too machined, but low-pressure strikes can look like this, although the rim is quite squared. 2 is a mess, and 5 is silly. I guess that leaves 3.
Answers: Many of these coins would be obvious fakes if you could see them. That's one reason I usually do not image the other two sides and just keep "edges" in a folder. I'll comment on some of the posts above. Messy has a good eye and caught the width of the reeds on the most genuine looking coin. 1. Counterfeit. Even, uniform, virtually identical reeding is more often than not found on counterfeits. 2. Genuine $10. My typical curve ball so don't assume anything I post in the quiz introduction. You'll see. Anyway, no one is expected to get this one although one member on ATS mentioned that it could be a genuine coin with a repaired edge. This coin was not in jewelry so who can say why the entire edge was carved up. Perhaps to recover some gold filings? 3,Counterfeit. Shallow and even reeding. Should make you suspicious but remember EVERYTHING we see on a counterfeit we'll EVENTUALLY find on a genuine coin. 4. Fake. Looks genuine but this is the type seen on the modern Chinese fakes. Note the different thickness on the reeds on the left. 5. Fake. Crude, shallow, uneven reeds. Another typical Chinese edge. 6. Fake. Old time cast counterfeit with edge seam.
You got me there. I thought 2 was maybe a contemporary counterfeit but genuine and damaged that’s a curveball all right
I stopped reading the NGC thread when you said... " Every coin in this quiz is an "across-the-room" counterfeit."
CoinCorgi, posted: "I stopped reading the NGC thread when you said..."Every coin in this quiz is an "across-the-room" counterfeit." That's too bad and confirms a lot. Unfortunately, the image of a piece that is an obvious lump of crap from 20 feet away to a professional authenticator or knowledgeable numismatist will fool most folks posting on a coin forum. That's why I take the time and trouble to post these quizzes for members who care.
So you didn't actually mean what you said (i.e. all 6 (or 5) - still trying to figure that out - are counterfeits and that it is so obvious that you should be able to tell from across the room)?
CoinCorgi, posted: "So you didn't actually mean what you said (i.e. all 6 (or 5) - still trying to figure that out - are counterfeits and that it is so obvious that you should be able to tell from across the room)?" If you would keep what you see on one forum separate from what you see on a different one there would be no chance of confusing yourself or any one else on either forum reading this post. Therefore, I cannot help you.
He posted 6 edges on NGC. He posted 5 here. Not sure why the difference. I think what he meant was - if you saw the obverse/reverse, it would be very easy to see that many of these are counterfeits. The challenge is trying to decipher what the edges are telling us. He was misleading with some of his clues, but I still think there are things to learn here.
The problem is that it seems like Skip is more interested in playing "gotcha" with the chatroom amateurs than simply testing the numismatic skills of the members by giving us all of the information, information that he is privy to. Why would anyone need to authenticate a coin simply from the edge? The answer is that they wouldn't, they would always look at the entire coin. This entire exercise is like Skip trying to be the numismatic Mr. Miyagi and viewing just the edges is like "wax on wax off". The next time someone hands me a Morgan Dollar, I'm going to tilt that sucker, pull out my loupe, just examine the edge, and then fire it across the room while screaming "hiya counterfeit" in my best Japanese accent.
Please ensure someone takes a video of that. I really want to see I'm not saying I completely agree with how Insider is conducting these quizzes. I feel like misleading clues and gotchas are not the best way to educate. They more often lead to frustration like @CoinCorgi exhibited. I'm merely trying to decipher what he's trying to do.