1863 Indian Head Cent - Authentic Or Not?

Definitely a fake. As others have stated, bold N reverse, triangular curved shape to serifs on E on reverse, and pointed bust are not found on the 1863 IHC. In addition there appears to be an L under the last feather which obviously did not occur until 1864.

Paul, if the seller is on ebay, may we have the id so we can avoid him?

The seller is ldm700. He has 12,867 feedbacks with 99.3% positive. The auction said he bought a box of coins from a coin store that was going out of business.

He offered right away to refund my money and return shipping when I first contacted him about my suspicions.

After be fooled by a fake Chinese Flying Eagle cent last year I'm glad I've learned enough through CCF to have had my suspicions raised about this coin.

The seller emailed me that he is taking all the coins from the batch he bought back to the dealer from whom he purchased them.

I'm sending the coins back tomorrow.

A very interesting thread. I can't haelp but think, though, who the heck would go to all that trouble for a 63IH? Why not a 64L or a 71 or 77 to get some real money out of the scam? I guess this would make me a better crook than the counterfeiter, but a crook I'm not, honesty is easier and keeps me out of jail.

All things considered, as long as the seller gives a refund, it is what it is, as they say. Thanks for posting the photos so we can all avoid trouble.

One of my first ebay purchases was a New Jersey Copper that was so fake you could see the mold lines on the edges. Back then the rules were more lax and it took me months to get my money back.

What is the consensus on this coin? Struck? Cast? Tooled/Altered? I am DL'ing the photos for analysis.

You're a lot less likely to get caught counterfeiting common dates.