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 Replies: 17 / Views: 5,115 |
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Pillar of the Community
527 Posts |
So I went to a pawn shop to look at some junk silver. I ended up buying a 1918 half dollar and a 1958 Franklin half for $14 each. There was a bag of around 60-70 nickels all pre-1970 for around $40, but the guy wouldn't sell any of them individually; only as a set. I was looking through a few of them and one of the nickels was a 1964. Since that's a very common date, it's a good thing I didn't buy the bag. I think it was a rip off. At another pawn shop, I ended up buying an 1804 silver dollar for just $10! However, it turns out to be a counterfeit. The guy who sold it to me flat out admitted that he doesn't know if it's real silver or not and that is why he priced it at $10. He said that if he knew if it was real, he'd sell it for a lot more. I took a chance and bought it. I took it to two different pawn shops to see if it's real or not and they said it wasn't. I was a bit bummed, but I'll get over it. The guy who sold it was honest with me; he didn't go out and say that it's real. He said he wasn't sure. Either way it's a cool novelty to have. But I did buy for $15 an assortment of nickels with the youngest one being a 1965 and the oldest a 1938P. I found four 1939's but all are P's. I even found two 1945 P War Nickels in the mix! I also found a 1954S which has a mintage number of just around 29 million. I will post the rest of the finds later. I do have a question about the fake 1804 dollar coin: Is there any actual silver in it? If so, at least there's still some form of silver bullion in it. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1372 Posts |
Scrape between the reeding on the coin's edge with a utility knife blade... and odds are you find out it's copper, washed with a chemical solution to make it appear to be silver. Odds are against it containing a single grain of silver.
Chance
Edited by Chancellor Sutler
09/17/2011 8:23 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
580 Posts |
Try putting a Magnet to it. See if it sticks.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1903 Posts |
What I wonder is, what self respecting pawn shop doesn't have a silver test kit?
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Pillar of the Community
 527 Posts |
LTMets, the two different pawn shops did test out the dollar and it sticks to a magnet.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
580 Posts |
Quote:
LTMets, the two different pawn shops did test out the dollar and it sticks to a magnet.
Then there is no silver in it. I have a few of these. They are counterfeits. My father got tricked into buying some. I can't even resell them as a novelty because it is not stamped as "copy". |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
687 Posts |
Quote:
The guy who sold it was honest with me; he didn't go out and say that it's real. He was not honest with you. He scammed you out of $10. A pawn shop wouldn't last a week if they couldn't determine if an object was silver or not and an 1804 dollar would be worth so much if it were real that there's no way someone who had one wouldn't get it checked out by a pro if he thought there was the slightest chance it were real. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
He had to know it was fake.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
809 Posts |
Why are you buying at a pawn shop? Go to your local coin shop! Pawn shops are all about making money and ripping you off...they dont care about coins.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
Quote:
At another pawn shop, I ended up buying an 1804 silver dollar for just $10! However, it turns out to be a counterfeit. The guy who sold it to me flat out admitted that he doesn't know if it's real silver or not and that is why he priced it at $10. He said that if he knew if it was real, he'd sell it for a lot more. An 1804 dollar for $10.00 ? That coin is known as The "King of American Coins" Really? You must have meant 1904 ? Quote:
Scrape between the reeding on the coin's edge with a utility knife blade... and odds are you find out it's copper, washed with a chemical solution to make it appear to be silver. Odds are against it containing a single grain of silver. Now even if it was a 1904 and not the 1804 Silver dollar or anything that resembles a coin at all, using a utility knife in any way on any coin is not a good idea nor is scraping the surface of a coin to see if it is "real" or silver. There are certainly many other harmless ways to determine whether it is a silver coin or not. Some fakes and copies are collectible. I'd love to own a nice fake 1804 Silver Dollar if it didn't have COPY or REPLICA stamped into it and I would pay much more than $10.00 if it looked good enough to make me wonder for a second or two. Asking a pawn shop dealer that and getting such a response tells me they won't be making a TV series in his shop any time soon. Even Chumlee knows better than that.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
580 Posts |
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I'd love to own a nice fake 1804 Silver Dollar if it didn't have COPY or REPLICA stamped into it I have a few of these. Not only 1804 but Trade, Peace, and Morgans as well. My father got scammed when we first started collecting. Someone came up to him in a gas station and said he was selling and inherited collection and needed quick cash. My father bought them all for under $20 a piece, not knowing anything about coins or silver, but thinking they were pretty cool to look at. They were very well presented and when we looked closer at them (taking them out of the holders) We could see how light they were and then stuck a magnet to it. It was an expensive mistake, but it got us learning and collection coins again. Sorry to hijack this post, but I wanted to share my story. By the way, I have no idea what to do with these coins. I know we wont get our money back. I would never scam someone. But I can't even sell them on ebay as a novelty because they are not stamped! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10029 Posts |
theNickelGuy said: Quote:
There are certainly many other harmless ways to determine whether it is a silver coin or not. Some fakes and copies are collectible. I'd love to own a nice fake 1804 Silver Dollar if it didn't have COPY or REPLICA stamped into it and I would pay much more than $10.00 if it looked good enough to make me wonder for a second or two. The Chinese were making these and selling them on ebay a few years ago. Total cost? 2.00 shipping included. And they are very convincing. They would also make you a silver one for about spot + the 2.00. There was one Chinese guy there who was sending private emails (if you gave him your email) and saying he would send them to you without "copy" or "replica" stamped on them. I am assuming ebay caught him and ousted him b/c of this. I ordered some of his stuff (off of ebay) as a direct way of educating myself as to what the modern fakes look like. I posted some of the info here when I first started on CCF last March, I hope to post more info on them as soon as I can get some pics taken (but right now editing a book is primary on my list). Here is the thread where I have links (scroll down) to the pics of the fake silver 1799 dollar and a convincing non-silver 1804 dollar I had ordered. I tried to post the pics here, but the image optimizer froze on me several times. So the following will have to do. https://goccf.com/t/87237If you want to see more of the fakes, search for "earle replica." Here is the one pic the optimizer worked on. I figure its just a "Microsoft Moment" for the CCF computers.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
Some of the fakes are really good, like scary good.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
609 Posts |
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Why are you buying at a pawn shop? Go to your local coin shop! Not everyones got a coin shop  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
Thats one thing that I miss about living down south...pawn shops. Sometimes you can get some great deals!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
609 Posts |
Haha, yeah there are quite a few.
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Replies: 17 / Views: 5,115 |
Posted 09/17/2011 10:48 pm
