The Stars on the obverse are terrible. They look like they're made of playdough. Especially number 3 right side below the "M".
Yeah, the stars did it for me. Hope you didn't pay too much for it. Even so, I'd keep it as a good example of what a fake looks like.
I'm no expert either so I needed to look a bit closer than most of you. I saw that the serifs in the word "UNUM" are unusually think as compared to a geniune one.
The thing I noticed instantly was no bag marks. They may exist, but I've ever seen a Morgan without bag marks.
This is what I noticed what Maxfli said. It's a raw 1878-CC Morgan, and yet the reverse fields are COMPLETELY unblemished. As if it was minted a week ago, which it probably was. And it has that dead no luster look.
Casting artifacts on the obverse around 12 o'clock caught my eye almost immediately, but the general look itself doesn't hold up to scrutiny.
The obverse is similar to the 1878 P VAM 83: the nostril was polished causing an opening in the nostril; the 1 in the date is higher and doubled, first 8 and 7 doubled, etc.) I have never seen a VAM 83 nostril on an 1878 CC. Would love to find one but I'll pass on this one.
Obviously fake. Surfaces and stars the first clue. Hair and eagle detail the second. Too many more to list
drop it on a marble or counter top that is not wood and listen to the sound. It most likely will have a Thud sound and not the familiar ring of silver
NO NO NO!!!! For any new collectors reading this thread, DO NOT follow this advice. Dropping a coin on a hard surface can damage it, and a damaged coin has a lower value. And never use a test that requires removing some metal for an acid test BTW: some Chinese fakes are silver, so this isn't a foolproof test
if it's suspected fake the damage wouldn't matter after a simple 6 inch drop. Not like it's 8 feet to the counter.
If I don't have the coin in hand to compare die varieties and die characteristics from the VAM Book or VAMWorld.com, I look for other tell tale signs of fake coins from books on counterfeit and altered coins. I rely heavily on VAMWorld.com to determine authenticity of any Silver Dollar. I recall TPG services authenticating counterfeit Micro O Dollars. So the Big Boys make mistakes also. Although SEGS is criticized by most as a grading service, I have confidence in them to be very accurate on VAM varieties and errors. If I want to protect a coin, SEGS has, in my opinion, the strongest capsule in the grading industry. Buy the book before you buy the coin or study VAMWorld.com for die characteristics. Oh, that coin is fake. Doesn't match any know die variety.