1797 Draped Bust Dollar

A picture would really help. The devices should be a dead giveaway.

Based on the obverse, it appears to be one of the many chinese fakes that are out there. Do you have a reverse picture?

The lettering on the reverse is completely wrong for a draped bust dollar.

I think I will take everyone's advice and send it in for verification. If a true fake I am going to head back to the auctioneer that sold it. Let him know it is illegal to sell counterfiet coins. With luck he will refund my money.

Exactly what Dave said...... There is absolutely nothing even close to being correct about either side of this coin..... 1797 is by far the rarest date for this type.... a genuine coin in such condition would not have sold for under $10K, (but probably a whole lot more).

Hopefully, hundreds. I'll answer this question as many times as it takes to make the counterfeiters go away because their audience knows not to patronize them. Of course, that's not going to happen, so the best we can hope is to get these questions from people who won an $8 auction rather than a $1000 one.

Estate auctions are typically run as "caveat emptor" or let the buyer beware. There's rarely any guarantee of authenticity at such events. In addition, the auctioneer will likely add that he has no way of knowing if the particular item is the same one he sold.

Personally, I know of one auctioneer who sold fake Seated and Trade dollars for thousands at a gun auction. At the time, some nefarious individual was planting the fakes at various auctions in the region. I happened to preview the alleged "coins" the day prior to the auction. I spoke with the auctioneer, and he agreed to confirm my opinion. He proceeded with the auction. I later learned that a relative to a friend had spent over $3,000 on a few of the fakes. I volunteered to go to court with him if need be, but he never pursued the matter. My guess is that he was too embarrassed.