Help with morgans...to good to be true?

[Punatic]

Hi everyone-

Would love some feedback on these Morgans, they are part of a lot I may get. However I am skeptical of these because they are so nice.

Thanks for any insight!

If real I could have a massive score on my hands

 

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[Red James Cash]

Bring a magnet with you.

 

[unclemac]

watch out for Chinese Morgans

Online Buy Wholesale morgan dollars from China morgan dollars Wholesalers |Aliexpress.com

 

[coinsareawesome]

The bottom one I'm 99.9999999% sure it's a copy. The other ones I am not too sure about.

 

[Punatic]

I thought that one was to good to be true with some crazy proof like details.

I'm guessing all are fake if that one is.

If I may ask what makes you think it's a fake?

 

[stefen]

Didn't pass the sniff test...

If its too good to be true, it isn't....

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Other than the last one, what I was seeing was pretty old flips. Notice the staples and the staining. Those coins had been in those flips for quite some time.

Rejecting the last one as a potential fake, and certainly depending on the price - I think I'd go for them all and certainly have a magnet with me - though not all fakes are magnetic.

I've been wrestling with one I thought was a fake myself in another thread.

And we are treasure hunting aren't we?

 

[ivan salis]

never hurts to do the good old magnet test --although not all fakes are magnetic many are...

 

[jerseyben]

Disclaimer: Without up close pics outside the holder and/or seeing them in hand, I cannot be sure.

However, they all look genuine to me, based on the pics provided. No red flags that I can see, given the big picture.

 

[WhiteTornado]

Personally, I'd stay away. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Many fakes from China exist. Even the melt value of these coins should be around $15, per coinflation.com:

Silver Coin Melt Values with Live Silver Prices - Coinflation

 

[Punatic]

Thanks for all the replies. The flips are the thing that is driving me to want to see these. They have been in those flips for a very long time (except the bottom one). The deal comes with some buffs, a couple late 70's panama box sets and some pennies for $350. It's a good deal especially if the Morgans are as nice as they look.

The hardest part is that it's about an hour and a half drive to see these so I don't want to waste my time.

 

[Higgy]

Hard to say because I am definitely not a numismatic expert. I bought some old Morgans from a girl and her daughter on the street in Zaragoza, Spain, back in the '80's. They all looked like old genuine coins, complete with wear, and patina. They felt like coins, and they were accurate in every way. I still do not know if they were genuine, but I sold them to the buddy that was there with me at the time.

So this brings me to question: Besides a magnet, how does one check for authenticity? What do the pros know that we dont?

 

[jerseyben]

Hard to say because I am definitely not a numismatic expert. I bought some old Morgans from a girl and her daughter on the street in Zaragoza, Spain, back in the '80's. They all looked like old genuine coins, complete with wear, and patina. They felt like coins, and they were accurate in every way. I still do not know if they were genuine, but I sold them to the buddy that was there with me at the time.

So this brings me to question: Besides a magnet, how does one check for authenticity? What do the pros know that we dont?

This is impossible to answer.

"Pros" know what they are doing through experience and wisdom. This is not something that can simply be "Googled".
That being said, there are resources available that would allow literally any person that can use a computer to post pictures of these coins and get feedback and opinions. There are several coin forums that would be a good place to do this.

If a person was so inclined, they could compare the features of a coin above to a picture of a known genuine example and look for discrepancies. Specifically the "font" is almost never correct of fakes. The date is another area that often looks "incorrect".

The easy areas to identify a fake have already been described. A magnet is a lazy person's tool to spot fakes but not all fakes stick to a magnet and typically those that do stick to a magnet are very poor fakes anyway. Those fakes that do not stick to a magnet will not smell like silver. There will be tiny bumps and pieces of raised metal on the coin surfaces. The surfaces often appear dull or flat. The details will appear as though the coin has been irregularly and inexplicably worn but often the surfaces do not look worn at all. Sometimes the features of the coin will appear blurry and not sharp, almost cartoon-like.

 

[cudamark]

You need to check the weight also. It's a bit harder to fake that.

 

[jerseyben]

You need to check the weight also. It's a bit harder to fake that.

Good catch. Yes, weight is another obvious "check mark" to overcome.

 

[Iamrussell]

I am by no means an expert but magnet, weight and diameter/thickness checks are the basic ways to test

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just keep stacking, just keep stacking, stacking stacking stacking

 

[dejapooh]

The bottom one I'm 99.9999999% sure it's a copy. The other ones I am not too sure about.

1879 S is TYPICALLY mirrored finished with nice surfaces and good definition in Hair and Eagle's breast. That coin looks good to me. That surface is hard to fake. If you cast or the like, you will not end up with that. If you buff and treat, there would be more evidence, the face would not have any frost... there is no pitting on the surfaces, a sure sign of casting. I am thinking it is real... If those are the prices on the things, I would jump if they are not magnetic.

 

[dejapooh]

The 1878 to 1885 S are typically beautiful. they are hard to find in lower grades. They are a dime a dozen in DMPL ms63+++ Even common in ms67.

 

[baddbluff]

The 1878 to 1885 S are typically beautiful. they are hard to find in lower grades. They are a dime a dozen in DMPL ms63+++ Even common in ms67.

83S, 84S & 85S are not common at all in MS grades, unlike the earlier S-mints. Any 84S above MS61 will have a 5-6 figure price tag.

 

[dejapooh]

83S, 84S & 85S are not common at all in MS grades, unlike the earlier S-mints. Any 84S above MS61 will have a 5-6 figure price tag.

Bad memory. I haven't collect dollars in 30 years.