Somebody asked if this is real on antiquers.

Somebody over on antiquers asked if this was real. Looked fishy to me, but I know nothing about these. Any Opinions?




Diameter is right about .700 of an inch and it weighs 4.2 g.

 

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Wouldn't trust it..........

 

Based only on the photo details, I don't detect an issue for regular strike.

 

Looks completely fine to me.

Weight should be at 4.18g, though it appears to be a LOT thinner than 70% of an inch in the pic.

 

Diameter and weight is correct... Details look correct... Seems fine to me.

 

Unless being sold by a trusted dealer, I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole.......

 

It was actually found in a hidden compartment in an old jewelry box.

 

Along with the 10 rolls of unseached Lincoln cents from 1909?

 

What do you see that makes you think it's counterfeit?

 

Looks genuine to me. Nice find in a jewelry box.

 

And you trust a picture? I'm just sayin' I wouldn't buy this coin unless it was from a trusted dealer. And I definitely wouldn't buy anything 'raw' from someone unknown. And I didn't say it was counterfeit.

 

yup!

or a 10 foot Italian

 

they are measured in millimeters. 18 millimeters = 0.708661 which is what it should be and the measure is rounded down. My guess is the scale isn't accurate either and it's rounded up to 4.2g instead of 4.18g.

if they asked if it was real, tell them so far it seems ok, go have it tested at a coin shop or a we buy gold place and find out if they would buy it. If they would buy it after checking it out, it's likely legit.

I can't blow these pictures up to look for tool marks, I can't even tell if the smudge to the left of the arrow points is a really worn mintmark or just a smudge.

these coins are difficult, everything is incused, the mintmark isn't, so it's the first to go in my opinion before the wear hits the design itself and the wear happens on the fields most of the time except for thumb and finger rub in the design. Id say it's EF range if it's real. the wear does hit the feathers of the headdress some, if that's wear and not part of counterfeitting.

Look the 1909 $2.50 is NGC's #14th most popular counterfeited coin, it gets beat out by the 1893 S morgan, and the usual lincoln cent suspects, and the 1916 D dime, and some more commonly seen gold fakes as far as gold goes it's #9. but it's in the top 50 and every one should be treated as suspected to be counterfeit until proven otherwise, to be safe.

I see no reason to doubt it's genuine from the pictures, however I still wouldn't buy it off a person on the internet that has some secret compartment story, just to be on the safe side. long "finder" stories usually equal scams of some sort, especially on the internet. it's one of those "have to see it in person, and have to really know the coin series" ones to get right. either that or it's already slabbed and proven to be genuine and graded, then as long as the number checks out, I see no problem buying one of those. honestly I have trouble telling VF from EF on these and don't even trust myself to get it right.

 

Trust your instinct in hand, and a second opinion from a local coin dealer, jeweler, or numismatist. From your pic's, looks real to me, I like it. Thanks for sharing it, good luck.

 

One of the first things I do is an XRay analysis of the metal content of any rarer or valuable US coin. Then I check the weight and diameter of the coin. Then I check the die characteristics of a genuine coin of that date or mint mark. Everything has to match to be genuine. At the present time the op's coin matches the diameter and weight. Enlarging the pictures gives an indication the die characteristics are correct for genuine. I find that most dealers do not do an xRay analysis, the machine is $25,000 or more. I also find that most dealers don't have books or check the internet on die characteristics of genuine coins. VAMworld.com is very good for Morgan and Peace dollars. There are thousands if not millions of counterfeit coins on the market. Nobody is perfect either. Just ask PCGS about the 1896, 1900 or 1902 micro o coins. When in doubt, send it out but remember everyone makes mistakes. Gold is at $1857 per ounce now. Gold value is $224.58 for the $2.50 Indian. If it tests gold, just buy it for it's gold content until you can make other tests to determine authenticity.

 

For those (like me) that can't authenticate it, ignore it.
Suggest to the finder that they get it slabbed.
Or at least take it to a dealer.
Should get at least $300-400 for it.

 

ROTFL! Every now and then, old timer, you come up with a good one!

 

[he takes a bow.]

 

I think that it is genuine. The stuff on the reverse may be from the felt in the jewelry box. Here is another

 

Looks real to me. I don't see any indication that it might be fake at all.