1832 counterfeit half dollar

[borntohunt460]

Found this at a house that I have found coins from the 18teens up until present day. This was along a sidewalk and about 10 inches deep. The signal was horrible and just enough to merit me bending down to dig. Didn't know what it was until I got home. The dirt is as it came out of the ground and I just am hesitant in fear of messing it up. Lots of detail there with no visible flaking

 

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[TheCoinKid]

Can we see a pic of the obverse? Why do you think it is counterfeit? The type of encrustation?

 

[borntohunt460]

Can we see a pic of the obverse? Why do you think it is counterfeit? The type of encrustation?

I can't get this app to work on my galaxy which is really frustrating. Don't even see an option to " start new thread" so had to do it from website

 

[cjon455]

hmm, its cool, I think I like it more than an actual half!

 

[borntohunt460]

Can we see a pic of the obverse? Why do you think it is counterfeit? The type of encrustation?

I think it is counterfeit because if it were real it would be made out of silver--- this one is made of copper or some alloy

 

[pepperj]

That's a nice find, post up a picture when it's cleaned up if you get a chance.

 

[Ranger121]

Thats a great find! I like hunting the sidewalk strips in this old Missouri town I'm in now. So far, no one has hassled me, cept maybe some dirty looks.

 

[TheCoinKid]

Since you haven't cleaned it, I couldn't tell from the pic if it was silver, or not. The encrustation did look odd for silver coming out of the ground, but sometimes silver contacting other metals yields odd results.

Congrats, I think a period counterfeit, if that's what it is, is a better find than a real one.

TCK

 

[pong12211]

Thats an interesting find.

 

[Jason in Enid]

That's almost as cool as finding a real one! Very nice find! Clean it carefully and gently, it could be zinc or pewter or some alloy that that degrades very easily.

 

[Bass]

Very nice find. It does look like copper

 

[Brian C.]

Here is my fake dollar.

 

[Fingerlakes119]

I have found some old silvers that were very dark, not all silvers will be shinny. It may be real. Look at this one that was real.

 

[BuckleBoy]

GREAT counterfeit coin! Congrats on that. IF brass or pewter, then I'd carefully toothpick with a wooden toothpick or shishkebab skewer then dry brush with an old toothbrush (NO water!).

Cheers,


Buck

 

[Scrappy]

That's an interesting point. Some silvers are very cruddy. I had a dim e come out like that, and one I even ruined a war nickel that I thought was a regular one.


Either way nice find. It's amazing and very old either way!

 

[borntohunt460]

GREAT counterfeit coin! Congrats on that. IF brass or pewter, then I'd carefully toothpick with a wooden toothpick or shishkebab skewer then dry brush with an old toothbrush (NO water!).

Cheers,

Buck

BTW buckleboy I found this in Kentucky as we just moved out of maryland. I know I'll miss my colonial sites but yesterday made me feel better about it. Found this with my at pro which I'll keep but I just bought an etrac and plan to start learning as soon as I find a new spot with coins

 

[Trezurehunter]

Fake or real, its a great coin.

 

[LuckyinRI]

real or not very nice find.

 

[testing123]

Any chance it's real but just been in a fire? Or is it definitely copper or non silver?

 

[Deno]

There is no doubt you have a counterfeit coin, this is not a bad thing.

The Bust half is the most counterfeited coin in history, yours may be worth
more than you would ever think if it's made from a US die.

The premier book on the subject is "Contemporary Counterfeit Capped Bust Half Dollars"
by Keith R. Davignon.

I found an 1813 half a few years ago that I didn't think much of until one of the guys that wrote
the above book contacted me after seeing it on here.

He offered me $500.00 dollars for it and told me he could get $1000.00 at auction.

He also told me there were highs and low's in the collector market and in
a better market $2,000.00 might not be out of the question.

I think it would be a good idea have it professionally cleaned to start with.

Good Luck,

Deno