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 Replies: 14 / Views: 2,027 |
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
Hello, I was wondering if anyone could help me with this Fat Man Dollar, I purchased it today for $20 from a local gold/silver place. The place has an X-Ray machine and it tested at ~90% silver (the machine is never 100% accurate, but is good at distinguishing between plated and real silver)and is not magnetic. It weighs ~27 grams on my cheap scale as you can see from the pics. So I'm wondering: 1) What's the date? 2) What's the mint? 3) Is it real? 4) What's the value? Pics can be found here: http://imgur.com/a/8FA3MThanks! |
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1063 Posts |
$20 for this coin sounds like a fake. Faking it with real silver isn't a problem. I'm no expert on these things, however here in China you see lots and lots of these "coins" for sale for much less than $20, but the real ones are worth thousands I would assume.
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New Member
 United States
4 Posts |
$20 isn't atypical though for this dealer, he runs a "Cash 4 Gold" style shop and so if I pay 100% of spot, its better than his refiner who pays 98.5% of spot. He just doesn't have time to worry about foreign (or even non-key US coins), he just tosses them in bins based on purity (although high grade Seated and Morgans go in his collection!). So the price doesn't really bother me since anything with that much silver will be sold for $20 in his shop, whether it is a modern sterling round, jewellery or a coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
It's dated year 10 which corresponds to 1921. From the pictures, it looks ok but I'm not a specialist on this particular type of coin.
Value wise, if genuine, it should be worth easily 80 - 100 dollar mark. I have no problem accepting the fact that the seller couldn't care less of the real value as he would have bought it for less than scrap metal value and let you pick. Not common but I know it can happen.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
I would love access to unsearched silver foreign coins!
But even going into those shops gives me the willies.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
618 Posts |
1921 fAT MAN----mINE is 26.29---same scratch as yours from epellet to rim. Got to be fake but has 89% silver!!
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
618 Posts |
update on that scratch---it is a design feature---not a scratch---so I tend to say it is a good coin--worth at least $75
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
618 Posts |
Fat man coin is very difficult to collect---experts say there are 200 to 400 varieties from many mints over many years and no records have ever been kept---add that to many fakes and you have an impossible task---Book authors with 50 years experience are still being surprised by new varieties---War Lord activity.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
I would think that $20-$25 is a fair and reasonable price for this coin.
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Pillar of the Community
Hong Kong
1270 Posts |
 Generic_Lad, Try to make a magnet slide like this and it would slide down very slow explicitly if the silver content is 90%. You can compare this coin with those you are sure they are 90% Ag in content. See the difference. I find this test is always more conveniently to detect a debased coin and sometimes more reliable than XRF. If this coin is bid on ebay, it would cost US60-75. Chinese people would never give up a chance to own a FAT MAN dollar. It is a popular coin in my city and country. From seeing the picture, I can't see any normal lustre from your coin. Though the weight is within normal but I still query it is fake. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
648 Posts |
Very nice tester. that should test and catch most off metal fakes.
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Pillar of the Community
Hong Kong
1270 Posts |
This is quick and easy way to achieve a qualitative result - comparison of the silver content of two coins of same type. To get a quantitative result of silver content, I can use specific gravity method. Both methods correlate quite well so far.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
684 Posts |
wonghinghi, may I ask exactly what are the strengths of the n52 magnets, and their progression, what is the gradient of the slope? My poor SG set up does not show consistent results.
Thank you
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Pillar of the Community
Hong Kong
1270 Posts |
Just compare two coins (same type) sliding down the same slope, take the time by stop watch. The slower one coming down the slope would possess higher Ag content.
Swamperbob is the expert of doing SG, I learned it from him. The most important thing is using a digital scale in 1/100.
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Valued Member
United States
385 Posts |
Yes, it is not a genuine piece. This design is one of the most counterfeited and has a value of around $5 to $20 on ebay. Genuine Pieces in circulated condition can easily fetch around $100 therefore the use of silver in the manufacturing of this coin would not be an issue. |
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Replies: 14 / Views: 2,027 |
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Posted 09/07/2013 9:40 pm
