1803 American Silver Dollar

http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/price...icesgd.shtml
John1

I hate to characterize things this way, but I must.

Approach this coin assuming it's a counterfeit, and look for proof that it isn't. This is a rare and valuable issue. Very worn examples (G4 range) are worth in excess of US$1000, and lightly-circulated specimens exceed $10,000. You'd be hard-pressed to find one in Mint State, at all. They are highly-counterfeited, and most of those fakes originate in Asia.

It would be a disservice to attempt to teach you how to authenticate one using just words posted to a forum. There are so many different telltales of a counterfeit that they cannot be listed in one place. Images would be imperative in order for us to appropriately help you.

I have to mirror SsuperDdave you have to assume every one of these you come in contact with is counterfeit and then work to find attributes that make it genuine as this series has a lot more fakes on the market than originals, not saying there are not originals out there but chances are 49 out of every 50 (was going to say 9 out of 10 but I know the number is higher than that) you will see will be counterfeit unless they are slabbed or from a reputable dealer/collector. Some of these are obvious and some take a little more work to determine authenticity. If you are not comfortable determining originals from counterfeit this is a coin I would not touch unless there was some sort of guarantee of authenticity saying that if it came back fake you get 100% of your money back and this would need to be in writing for me to feel comfortable

It would have to be authenticated, and the price is going to be out the roof. Large 3 is most common then small 3 both will be 5 to 10 thousand dollars and a re strike forget it only four known.

From these photos I would run away already. Looks like a cast or electrotype copy.

Hard to say anything from pics like this, but I think I see the soft edges of the devices suggestive of a counterfeit. More importantly, there are six die varieties for the 1803 dollar, not including the later proof novodel, and I don't believe this date conforms to any of them. Would still ask about the edge, if you haven't already; plain or reeded would quickly rule out a genuine dollar.

They are almost always their mothers coin. She had it in her sock drawer (or tucked in her undies) for years and forgot about it. Just found it when we were going through her things after her tragic death. I don't have any interest in coins and it really holds no sentimental value, so I am selling it.

Or something very much like that.

From that photo, I would say FAKE. I am not normally the one screaming counterfeit, but with this coin series, Superdave is right, and I see NOTHING there that makes me think that is real.