Another of my treasures. OK, I know it's a fake but I have searched the internet for any picture or written mention of another example and have drawn a blank. As far as I can tell this is the only one existing on the entire planet. I got it from ebay a few years ago but I don't know its origin. Except for the obvious "error", it's a fairly good copy.
There were no silver dollars minted in 1947, and even if there was some sort of mishap with the date punch, the coin wouldn't look that fake. When weighed, it will probably be off. Nonexistent dates are common among fake coins.
Besides the date, the denticles are terrible on both sides. The only consolation is that 1947 is the year I was born. Chris
How do we know for sure its fake? The mint employees could have made a mistake or been goofing around. Like, "hey mike, lets make one coin dated 1947, and throw it into circulation to fool with people. "
Those crazy mint workers , with their beer rations . Wonder what our coins would look like if we had a mint in Colorado ? I for one would be intrigued .
Not much of a challenge there. They are fooled by real dollars, and sometimes halves. And sometimes $2 bills.
This is the 2008 thread that led to me buying the coin on ebay. Poster ericl says he saw a similar one in Tazd Iran so it may have middle east origins, if not China. It does seen strange that no others seem to have surfaced. If a coin's rarity increases its value, is the value of a counterfeit also increased by its rarity? https://www.cointalk.com/threads/extremely-rare-1947-morgan-dollar.43989/ Edit: Apparently a similar coin (or the same one?) was on ebay-UK in 2007. And had been seen by a poster on a Hong Kong site. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2201417
I don't know about current reproductions like these (but I doubt it), but rare contemporary bust half counterfeits can actually be worth more than real ones in the same grade.
I won one on eBay , then someone reported it and it got pulled . I wish they,d learn the difference between contempory counterfeits and Chinese fakes . I,m sure your Bust half fooled many a merchant back in the day .
