Trade Dollar - Is it Real?

Hi. Last summer I bought a really nice 1876-S Trade Dollar. I have identified it as a reverse type 2 and obverse type 2 which is slightly rarer than the normal kind but not as rare as those with CC mint marks. Problem: I bought it in Cambodia, former French Indo-China. Yes I bought an American coin in Asia, the biggest exporter of counterfeit coins in the world. For those of you rolling your eyes in disbelief :rollling: of my stupidity, the person I bought it from said he was using this coin for HIS counterfeits. I thought "Hey, he already has the casts and he doesn't need it any more so it may be the real thing". I still need to validate that it is real and that's why I'm here.

It weighs about 27.1 grams and is about 37.5 mm in diameter (which is about the specs of a real trade dollar). I would love to hear your opinion about it if I can actually get the pics up in the first place! Also, the camera I have is rather old and so its resoultion isn't that high, nevertheless the coin is visible.

 

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Pics Start here (press previous to view others as I did not upload in correct order):
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4939.jpg&newest=1

 

Lupinus, we can only see one picture. I see nothing that screams fake, but the denticles are uneven (bottom part) so I would say that it's authenticy is questionable.

I'm no expert, wait for more to give their input.

 

Sorry, here are other pics:
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums...us/?action=view&current=IMG_4944.jpg&newest=1
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4939.jpg&newest=1#!oZZ5QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1102.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg457%2Fsirlupinus%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_4945.jpg%26newest%3D1
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4939.jpg&newest=1#!oZZ4QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1102.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg457%2Fsirlupinus%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_4946.jpg%26newest%3D1
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4939.jpg&newest=1#!oZZ3QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1102.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg457%2Fsirlupinus%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_4947.jpg%26newest%3D1
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4939.jpg&newest=1#!oZZ2QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1102.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg457%2Fsirlupinus%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_4949.jpg%26newest%3D1
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4939.jpg&newest=1#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1102.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg457%2Fsirlupinus%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_4950.jpg%26newest%3D1

 

Normally I would not chime in on something I am not familiar in.. But it looks fake to me.. That said. I have not seen that many in that grade.

 

How 'bout a shot of the reverse?

Thinkin' questionable,,,,,

 

Definately..... the reverse is usually more telling on these.

 

something looks wrong in her head to me. then again, I'm not one for trade dollars

 

Pictures of the reverse are posted above

 

Looks real to me, the denticles front/back are a good giveaway.
Or this is the newest best counterfeit to date. I vote real, though.

 

Every link I see refers to image http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/IMG_4939.jpg

 

http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4944.jpg
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4945.jpg
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4946.jpg
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4947.jpg
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4949.jpg
http://s1102.photobucket.com/albums/g457/sirlupinus/?action=view&current=IMG_4950.jpg

 

Its hard from photos like this. I will relate a story. I was in China once and was told the same story, that they had used this coin for THIER faking, but this is the real thing. In fact, I heard this from 3 different sellers. I would not trust anything a forger would or will tell you. He is in the business of selling lies, why do you think you are so special that he only tells you the truth.

That said, I would not trust this coin, or any others like it in the marketplace today, without certification. This is the one area where I believe slabbing really shines.

Chris

 

Like I said before, with the new pictures, nothing screams FAKE. However, I'm not saying that it's definitely real.

 

Nothing is jumping out yelling fake to me, either.
The only thing that doesn't register with me is the top/right edge of the banner, on the reverse.

 

I would bet that it's counterfeit. The surface texture looks off to me.

 

nah, it's a real fake . LOL