1853 1 Dollar Gold Submitted For Grading

hope you sent it to ANACS because I think the rim may keep it out of PCGS or NGC slabs

This is definitely one I'd send to ANACS for authenticity purposes. In the "United States Gold Counterfeit Detection Guide", by Bill Fivaz, there are a half dozen examples of high quality die struck 1853 gold dollar counterfeits. I use this book often as a resource, as I have been burned before. Most of them are made with real gold to mint specifications. Many of these are deemed counterfeit by very small tooling marks, raised lines, and raised bumps that are a result of the counterfeiters work on a false die.

Gold dollars are a highly counterfeited series. I have circled several areas on the reverse that are "questionable"(they look very much like the spikes and bumps illustrated in the book, though it may just be the photos). I would urge you to inspect the coin very carefully. Was this an ebay purchase? or from a trusted dealer? Anyways, be very very careful with raw gold purchases, especially in smaller denominations. And make sure you can get a refund if the coin is deemed not genuine. If you only paid melt for this, you are probably ok regardless of whether or not it is genuine.

I agree with this, regardless of whether or not it is genuine. Many fakes were used in jewelry as well. The coin has very nice AU details, so I don't want to come across has harsh. I would research gold dollars on the PCGS forums, as there are dozens of threads regarding discussing gold dollar counterfeits boths specificly and in general.

btw: I also own an 1853 gold dollar that I believe is fake. It still has good luster and AU details like yours. I bought it raw years ago, and I didn't think of it at the time; and it's way to late for me to return it. I've been wanting to send it in for a while, but just havent got around to it. I will try to get some good pictures up later.

Interesting topic, and important as well.

My first thought from Moe's photos was "cleaned", based on the brassy color and obverse hairlines. Then I read Bryan's post and noticed the rim damage, which certainly appears to be the point where a mount was removed. Then Johnny's post got me thinking about counterfeits and I realized he has a good point. It certainly looks like this is a problem coin!

FYI, I have an 1853 gold dollar, graded MS-64 in a PCI slab. I sent it to PCGS for crossover, specifying a minimum MS-63 grade and they would not cross it, saying it had "altered surface". I don't see the surface problem they reported. Unfortunately, at the time I submitted this coin PCGS did not provide an authenticity opinion when they body-bagged coins. PCI at least thought it was genuine. Here are photos. My coin appears to be free of the suspicious raised marks that show on Moe's coin. Some obverse stars are weak which I assume was due to overpolishing of the die.

Very nice coin Jaobler! I agree that I don't see any signs that the coin is fake. Are those die clashes in the center of the reverse by the "1"? From what I've read, die clashes are usually only found on authentic coins. The surfaces appear to have lots of luster and no obvious signs of cleaning.

Whitman, larger photos are needed to better reveal any suspicious surface features. Your coin appears to have about EF-45 detail and hairlines on the reverse, probably from cleaning. The mintmark looks dented near the top but I presume this is a Charlotte coin? I have an 1851-C PCGS-certified dollar and I can post images for comparison.

Johnny54321 wrote:




I haven't submitted it to any Grading Company and hadn't planned to for awhile. However, that may be the way to determine whether it's counterfeit. (I would be unhappy if it was...)

I agree that this coin was definitely ex-jewelry. The bumps are exactly where they would be for a loop to have been attached at one point. I may ask my local jeweler to see if he can remove any of the foreign stuff.