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 Replies: 24 / Views: 5,105 |
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New Member
United States
9 Posts |
Ok new to collecting , learning the hard way. I paid 100 bucks for a 1888 s , looked like clash die. Now thanks to you guys I find out a fake . Filed complaint with e bay see if I can get my money back. How do you know what your buying is real. I cant afford to only buy graded coins to expensive. like the thrill of the hunt to buy a VAM that no one sees but me. How do I know I did not get taken on other China Fakes ? My Fake below  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12057 Posts |
Easiest way is to buy a few coins from a reputable high-feedback seller, just average circulated common-date Morgans, and then handle them. You will soon get a feel for how the coins should look, feel, and gain familiarity with the design in general. Once you have a couple of real Morgans in-hand the fakes become much easier to spot.
Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
Welcome e135md!
Your question is not just related to this series of coinage, but for ALL coin collectors (or collectors of anything, for that matter).
Education. Knowledge. Experience.
A great mix of these three (plus a little LUCK never hurt) are earned, one way, or another.
A SUPERB place to start, by chance, do you have a local coin club? Local coin shop?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
992 Posts |
Find a club and at least one dealer shop near you. Drive an hour if you have to, and avail yourself of a few BU common-date Morgans, then study them. Do get a digital scale that will give results to 0.1 gram, and use it.
If in doubt, don't buy it.
At $100 a coin for a budget, there are quite a few Morgans you can buy, to get started.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1267 Posts |
With a budget of $100 a coin, there are plenty of PCGS and NGC graded Morgans out there, many with unattributed vams.
The thrill of the hunt is still there, the risk is gone.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3479 Posts |
I agree! Yeah you should be able to find common dates in 62-64 slabbed by PCGS and NGC for around $50 with no problem.
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
e135md, If you only currently interested in Morgans and the Morgan VAM's buy the book or books first. There is also a good website on them vamworld.com. Post questions here on CCF as needed. John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8715 Posts |
Make sure you know what counterfeits look like, and avoid them. Your Morgan dollar is an example of a Chinese counterfeit. Also, avoid cleaned coins. Their value is significantly lower than original coins. In my opinion, this is a classic example of a dipped coin: 112842890528Always look for the green CAC sticker on the slab. If CAC stickers it, that means the coin has original surfaces and is on the high end of its grade. Here's one with original surfaces: 222856425937This example doesn't have much toning, but still looks original: 142706040216Edited by SilverDollar2017
03/01/2018 08:10 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4211 Posts |
 and always make your purchases from trusted sources. Look for solid feedback from dealers that deal specifically in coins if buying on ebay. Find a local coin shop. Join a coin club if you have one in your area. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3733 Posts |
Also keep in mind you paid 100$ for a coin , that had it been real in similar condition would be worth 300$.. So if the price is too good to be true, it usually is.. try to file a claim on ebay for item not as described, if you get no satisfaction, you have 180 days to get your money back through paypal. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2204 Posts |
I've found that the best way to detect a fake is simply by having looked at many real coins over a period of time. Once you get a feel for what the real ones look like, a fake will jump out at you like a sore thumb.
For me, it's usually the shade of the metal that tips me off. Yours is a perfect example. No matter what condition a Morgan is in, it never looks grey like that.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8715 Posts |
Quote:
I've found that the best way to detect a fake is simply by having looked at many real coins over a period of time. Once you get a feel for what the real ones look like, a fake will jump out at you like a sore thumb.
For me, it's usually the shade of the metal that tips me off. Yours is a perfect example. No matter what condition a Morgan is in, it never looks grey like that. Correct. Another thing to look for are any errors such as die clashes (present on your Morgan dollar) and check them against a list of known VAMs for that date and mint mark. Often, fakes like yours will have some features of the design incorrect. In the case of your fake Morgan, the date looks like it doesn't have the proper space between each number. Of course, if you ever have any questions about a coin for sale, just post it here on CCF before you buy it.  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
10625 Posts |
All very solid advice given so far and most of all, stick around and learn from all the good folks here on the forum. There is quite a wealth of knowledge on CCF and appraisals are free.. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4469 Posts |
If you do a weight, magnet, and thickness test, it will catch the cheep fakes. If you are going to spend over $200 for a coin get one graded by a TPG, you will be money ahead long term unless you have expert grading skills. There are about 40 common date Morgan's that you can buy inexpensive in the grade of MS 64. For the same money, You will have a hard time collecting the same 40 common dates raw buying on ebay in equal grades without problems like the coin being cleaned or low luster. If you are into VAM Morgan's, you can post in the VAM Morgan section before you buy and the forum members will give you an opinion of the possible VAM. Edited by Slider23
03/01/2018 12:10 pm
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Valued Member
240 Posts |
Yikes! As soon as the image loaded ... my alarm went off.
Sorry that happened to you. It seems that they are looking for any and all angles these days. Clashed dies...
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2519 Posts |
Exactly the same as mine, but a different date. I don't feel like searching up a 4-year old thread right now, so here's the picture of it:  |
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Replies: 24 / Views: 5,105 |
Posted 02/28/2018 11:36 pm
