Project: How To Spot Fake US Trade Dollars

Good info thus far, a few minor grammatical errors but nothing major.

I think it would be good to have a picture highlighting the wear points. Since most fakes are VF as mentioned above, making sure the wear is typical is a good first step in seeing if it is authentic.

Assuming it's a valid date and mintmark combination:

The very, very first thing I look at is the scroll where it meets the hand. If the scroll is flat instead of curled, that's a 99.9% chance of being a fake.

On higher grade coins, the texture of the rocks/stones is a good giveaway as well. They should be textured, not flat, and with good detail.

Another quick test is orientation: a lot of the fakes I've seen have been medal orientation (up/up) instead of coin orientation (up/down).

Even brand new, the fakes do not have good luster, and I don't think I've ever seen one that isn't a dull gray to brown color. Most of the fakes are VF-XF or have other oddities such as showing XF-AU detail in some places but F-VF in others.

Just because it is slabbed, does not mean it is genuine.

Some fakes are easy to spot

Fake coin, fake slab; very frightening. I am not sure I would have caught this. There is a reason why the Trade dollar hole is empty in my 7070.

As I said on page one, this thread will come in handy.

What a great idea. Does the same wiki exist on ccf somewhere?

If you have a known fake, study the coin to learn about that counterfeiter's dies.

For example, this is definitely fake. It has a type 1 obverse and a type 2 reverse on a date no such combination was used.

Observations:

-Counterfeit Trade dollars are frequently made to look worn (attempt at fooling the unsuspecting).

-Counterfeit Trade dollars frequently have bag marks or other dings (attempt at fooling the unsuspecting - or just from keeping them in a big barrel or bucket at their counterfeiting operation).

-Counterfeit Trade dollars frequently have denticles that are not well defined and of consistent size.

-Counterfeit Trade dollars frequently have letters that are not well defined, but instead look "mushy".


As previously advised, compare with a known genuine coin.

You might consider showing images of the secondary identifying features for the type 1 and 2 obverses and reverses (three and four fingers on the olive branch on the obv, and with and without the berry in the claw on the reverses.)

You have some incorrect or confusing information in there.

You say the type 1 obv was used 1873 to 76 and the obv 2 was used from 1877 to 85. Then in the later listings you show obv 2 being used in 1876, a year before you said they started using it.

You say the type 1 rev was used 1873 - 76 and type 2 1877 to 85. Then in the later listing you have the rev 2 being used in 1875, two years before you say it began. I think you need to revise the date ranges for the types.

In the obv/rev pairings each pairing can be found on the coins from each mint except the 1876 Obv 2/rev 2 which is only found on 1876 S

There is also a very rare variety in 1876 that has an obv that is neither type 1 or 2 but a mixture of both. It has the ribbon ends of a type 1 but four fingers on the olive branch as on type 2. This has been seen on both proofs and business strikes.