Spotted this SLH on the Bay. Seller has zero transactions, is located in UK, and does not accept returns. There is also an odd toning on obverse and reverse, which might be due to photography. And yet people are bidding. Opinions?
Yup, I wouldn't touch that one. Good instincts. Of course people are bidding . . . . it is eBay, after all.
Yes. The numerals in the date look a bit "off", among other things. At first glance, it was hard for me to determine if this was a fake, or just a harshly scrubbed real coin. (It would look wrong either way.) But upon seeing the unnatural surfaces and the somewhat odd looking date numerals, yeah. Red flag here. Made in China, I'll betcha. Those date numerals and fonts are what give 'em the hardest time. This one isn't such a sloppy job, actually, with the exceptions mentioned above. It's somewhat deceptive at a quick glance.
The coin above, once again: The real deal, courtesy of CoinFacts: The first: Beijing, early-21st century. The second: New Orleans, mid-19th century.
It has that brownish splotchy paint that's been more commonly seen on Chinese coins lately. Even if it were a real coin I wouldn't buy from a seller with those credentials.
Chinese counterfeit. And many counterfeits are not magnetic. Being magnetic can condemn a coin (excluding 1943 cents and various foreign coins), but not being magnetic is no indication of authenticity.
Seated Liberty Halves are my most favorite series. This example of a 1852-O sends up the red flag, as others have said in earlier posts, look at the font of the numerals in the date, as well as the overall finish/toning that lead to the conclusion of a counterfeit coin. These characteristics also manifest themselves in the fake Chinese Morgans. The credentials of the seller are questionable at best as well. Otherwise not a bad fake and may fool the inexperienced individual.
The one thing that strikes me about this coin is that the mint mark doesn't look right. It's skewed slightly, at least to me. I don't know a lot about the Seated series, but to me the MM just looks out of whack in relation to the lettering below and the branch above it. The bottom of the O should be in line with the serif on the F of HALF as in the real one posted by @lordmarcovan. It isn't. It points to the top line of the F.
There are many things that quickly give this imposter away, but the size, placement and orientation of the mintmark were the very first things that jumped out at me.
I've recently seen coins for sale with that exact same background and questioned the coins in view. Maybe a fake seller that collects money and you never see a coin and their profiles disappear from eBay?
I believe it's the new version approved by the CCP. The eagle had its tail feathers shot off by a super accurate Chinese AA missile as it flew over the Spratley Islands in the South China Sea. Take that, Capitalist Scavenger Fowl! sorry, I digress. should not have had that second glass of wine.