1886 S Morgans Was I Duped?

Probably steel, being the cheapest magnetic material available. It should go without saying that the silver content is going to be zero point zero zero percent - not even a silver coating.

The inclusion of "COPY" indicates it was intended for the American market, as only American law specifies that particular word "COPY be present for fake coins sold in or imported into the US. The fake steel Morgans you buy from the street markets in Vietnam, for example, don't have "COPY" on them.


There is some value in them; fake Chinese-import dollars typically sell for a couple of bucks in the streets. So you actually paid less than the "normal going rate" for them.

The main obstacle to selling them is you can't use ebay; ebay completely forbids the sale of replica and counterfeit coins, even coins like these that comply with US law by having COPY stamped on them. You'd have to go to a brick-and-mortar coin shop, or maybe a coin club.