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 Replies: 34 / Views: 2,822 |
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Valued Member
United States
127 Posts |
A trusted seller has sent me this coin, someone I have dealt with for a number of years and has always had nothing but straight up good deals. Only 1 problem - instead of 27gr it is 26gr. Yes, there is the usual heavy wear, particularly to the face and the right hand wrap-a-round.... Looks and sounds silver, so it it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....is it a duck? There is some heavy rim wear, and what appears to be irregular reeding from 3-6:00. Both of us are stumped. My question....can these be that much underweight and still be considered genuine? Do you spot any other issues?   |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
25033 Posts |
Paul, it does look a bit "off". What is the exact weight, to 2 decimal places?
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Valued Member
 United States
127 Posts |
26.01 grams. The scale shudders and goes to 26, then settles back to 26.01. And sorry I didn't show a picture of the rim. All you could see was a fabulous view of my cracked finders holding a fuzzy view of the coin.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
25033 Posts |
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2003 Posts |
I would agree that the missing gram is troubling for the condition of the coin. I might expect that on a well worn specimen but not on a coin in this grade. Kind of like comparing apples to oranges here but in the case of Morgan dollars, a MS coin would weigh 26.73 grams while a G-4 Morgan is about 25.75 grams. Perhaps a SG test should be your next move to see if it is indeed silver. |
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Valued Member
United States
127 Posts |
What troubles me is he's always been so very careful to send me nothing but good coins. Since I don't have enough experience with them to make a true judgement call about it, I told him I will rely on what the experts here say. If the consensus seems to be it looks good, then I will trust your combined opinions and go with it. I've learned this community is a trusted source of very good members who tell it as they see it. So I'll 'weigh' it based upon what you tell me.
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Valued Member
United States
127 Posts |
Oh, I forgot to mention the other oddity. It is the correct 39mm dia.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2003 Posts |
I would conduct a specific gravity test. I once had a US Trade dollar that was underweight by 1 gram yet Graded VF so I became suspicious. I did a SG test and the results came back as 9.1 which indicated more like copper or brass. Sure enough when I ran a file over an edge, it exposed a brass core which had been silver plated. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
The date looks very sketchy.
"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6383 Posts |
Not familiar with this series but the grainy texture and poorly formed denticles look bad. I found a certified example on Heritage and it is well-struck with none of the grainy look of your coin. I'd return it if I were you.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
25033 Posts |
Anywhere close that would run an XRF test on it for you?
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Valued Member
United States
127 Posts |
I could go to jewelers for an XRF test, but I'm afraid if I pester him one more time without buying something, he's going to show me the door. And I agree with you on the denticles. I never tried a specific gravity test, something about suspending in water, but not sure I'd have a clue whether I did that right or not.
I think the votes are in...send it back.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2003 Posts |
Yeah, I would return it. The SG test can be tricky since even a breeze across the scale can give false results. I normally have to conduct it several times for a repeatable result. You need a small cup of water, thin suspension string and a scale capable of two decimal places. Start by weighing the coin only on the scale and record the weight. Next attach (tie) the string to the coin. Place the cup of water on the scale and zero it out. Suspend the coin in the water without it touching the sides or bottom and record the wet weight of the coin. Then you divide the wet reading into the dry weight reading. You may even have to deduct the weight of the string used for accurate readings. 90% silver should give you a result of 10.34
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1912 Posts |
The pictures look like a crude cast fake instead of being a machine struck genuine.
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Valued Member
United States
127 Posts |
As usual, thanks to everyone for your thoughtful comments. If you have a serious question about a coin, this is the pace to post it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1912 Posts |
If you can weigh the coin with very good accuracy.
It would not be difficult at all to get a reasonable SG number.
Well enough to point to proper silver or not.
Apart from that, a very strong small or medium N-52 magnet can also point towards not being silver if in fact it is not.
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Replies: 34 / Views: 2,822 |
Posted 09/07/2023 1:33 pm
