As a seller, I don't want someone removing the coin from its holder out of concern for switching it.
But as a buyer, the main way to tell if the coin is authentic is to remove it from its holder & examine it for tell-tale signs of edge smoothing by dremel or lathe.
See this link:
How to Tell if a Godless Plain Edge Dollar is Fake
http://coins.about.com/od/errorcoin...s_dollar.htm "What does the edge look like? As a general rule, the edges on the
Presidential dollars are a mess under good magnification (such as a 10 power triplet jeweler's loupe.) Although the edge may appear smooth to the naked eye, once you get a close up look, you should see all kinds of dings and dents, perhaps a very slightly convex aspect towards the center, and most importantly, very fine vertical lines that may or may not go all the way from top to bottom. You might need to tilt the coin to the light in various ways to discern these fine vertical lines, but they appear on every single genuine unmodified
Presidential dollar edge that I have seen, whether it had edge lettering or not."
"The best test of all to authenticate a genuine plain edge dollar is to examine the edge under 10 power or greater magnification. Compare what you see on your plain edge
Presidential dollar to regular lettered-edge dollars. The dings and dents and other non-letter markings should look approximately similar, but most of all, look for the faint vertical lines that appear on every single unmodified
Presidential dollar edge. If all you see is a smooth, nearly perfect edge (under good magnification,) that is bad news. What's even worse news is seeing a very smooth edge with faint little circular marks that sort of repeat themselves around the entire perimeter (which are signs of a dremel style buffing tool.)"
Posted 05/02/2007 12:42 pm
