Posted 04/30/2015 07:36 am
Seller first. What's he sell, how much has he offered, what are people saying about him?
A perusal of his record turns up an interesting 1895-O Morgan. The coin looks good, but the date seems low and/or slanted, and although both are represented in that year, both are Far Dates. That coin isn't a Far Date. OK, one strike against him. However, not-so-great images and less than complete information at VAMworld mean I can't prosecute on this information, so that's circumstantial.
Now for Trade dollars. Learn about the two reverse types, and when you can expect to see them, here:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Coin-Fake-D...03602/g.html
Then go here and read everything. In return you'll see some of the finest Trade dollars extant:
http://www.tradedollarnut.com/
Bruce Moreland assembled the finest-ever collection of Trade dollars (the Legend Collection and yes, it's so-named because Legend assembled it), indeed the finest possible as he had all the Top Pops in one place. 1876-CC is relevant to the discussion here, as it's easily the toughest of all Trade dollars in Mint State and his MS65 was the finest by two grades.
If you're not yet sick of Trade dollar details, go here:
http://www.pcgs.com/books/silver-dollars/
You'll be satiated by the time you're done with that one. Heck, you may never want to look at another Dollar of any issue after than, or you may want to own them all.
On to the coin in question. Type I/Type I, acceptable for the date/MM. First place to look for fakes on the obverse are the leaves in LIBERTY's hand; they are weak in cast fakes. Here, that's (deliberately?) obfuscated by the black stuff and inconclusive. Denticles next. Fuzzy, weak, the decision that it's definitely fake is made as of this moment but we'll move on.
To the reverse, where the denticles prove you a genius for not needing to look at the reverse.
But wait, there's more. Who stole the detail between the eagle's legs? It certainly ain't there. Ditto for the eagle's right wing, the "classic" place to look for weak detail. Trade Dollars rarely come weakly struck. As fakes go, this one actually has more detail there than you're going to see in the future.
Mint Mark configuration is more a trial-and-error thing in conjunction with Heritage images (they have 238 of them for you to peruse) and if that's not enough the PCGS Auctions page will have all of them and a hundred more.
Now, go forth and multiply your knowledge.
A perusal of his record turns up an interesting 1895-O Morgan. The coin looks good, but the date seems low and/or slanted, and although both are represented in that year, both are Far Dates. That coin isn't a Far Date. OK, one strike against him. However, not-so-great images and less than complete information at VAMworld mean I can't prosecute on this information, so that's circumstantial.
Now for Trade dollars. Learn about the two reverse types, and when you can expect to see them, here:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Coin-Fake-D...03602/g.html
Then go here and read everything. In return you'll see some of the finest Trade dollars extant:
http://www.tradedollarnut.com/
Bruce Moreland assembled the finest-ever collection of Trade dollars (the Legend Collection and yes, it's so-named because Legend assembled it), indeed the finest possible as he had all the Top Pops in one place. 1876-CC is relevant to the discussion here, as it's easily the toughest of all Trade dollars in Mint State and his MS65 was the finest by two grades.
If you're not yet sick of Trade dollar details, go here:
http://www.pcgs.com/books/silver-dollars/
You'll be satiated by the time you're done with that one. Heck, you may never want to look at another Dollar of any issue after than, or you may want to own them all.
On to the coin in question. Type I/Type I, acceptable for the date/MM. First place to look for fakes on the obverse are the leaves in LIBERTY's hand; they are weak in cast fakes. Here, that's (deliberately?) obfuscated by the black stuff and inconclusive. Denticles next. Fuzzy, weak, the decision that it's definitely fake is made as of this moment but we'll move on.
To the reverse, where the denticles prove you a genius for not needing to look at the reverse.
But wait, there's more. Who stole the detail between the eagle's legs? It certainly ain't there. Ditto for the eagle's right wing, the "classic" place to look for weak detail. Trade Dollars rarely come weakly struck. As fakes go, this one actually has more detail there than you're going to see in the future.
Mint Mark configuration is more a trial-and-error thing in conjunction with Heritage images (they have 238 of them for you to peruse) and if that's not enough the PCGS Auctions page will have all of them and a hundred more.
Now, go forth and multiply your knowledge.
