1875 Seated But is it....

[InTheWoods]

Counterfeit I found this in a roll from 1 of 3 boxes I picked up today. I checked it with my metal detector and it does not come up like a silver coin. After looking at it a little closer it appears to be crudely cast with porosity and a crack. I want to clean it with baking soda but I want to make sure it has no real value before I do. Let me know what your opinion is.

HH Mark

 

[secondcup]

Well i think it was already mentioned,but the last year of seated liberty dollars was 1873.
Then it went to trade dollars,1873 to 1885, then to morgans,1878 to1921.
I dont find a pattern or any other listing for a trial piece dated 1875 in any of my coin material.
So i would say it may be an old fake due to the fact that if you are dumb enough to try and counterfiet a coin that never existed then you get my vote for dumbest criminal of all time.But,if back in the day you did not know the government was going to change the design and you had already made some.......
Will be interesting to see what you find out after you have it checked!!!

Yes, but the coin in question is a 50 cent piece...not a dollar.

 

[Scott (Mich)]

Take a Franklin or a 1964 Kennedy and run it under your detectors coil. It should read the same as a genuine Seated Half.

The US mint made Seated halves from 1839 until 1891, then Barber came along in 1892 to 1915, Liberty Walking from 1916 to 1947,and so forth.

The Seated Half started out at a weight 12.44 grams from from 1839 until 1872, then the 1873 and newer all weigh 12.5 grams, The Franklin and 90% Kennedy also weigh 12.5 grams. All the circulation struck halves from 1873 until 1964 weigh 12.5 grams, and are made from .900 silver, .100 copper. I am not sure how much should be taken off to account for circulation wear.

In the 1800's there were many fake coins being made. I have read a few stories about the counterfeiters being caught in old newspaper articles. I went to a Historical Society meeting in a neighboring city and the guy that was giving the speech showed us a counterfeit Large Cent he found while metal detecting. It was gray looking and reminded me of potted metal (I am not sure if potted metal is a local term, thats what my dad always called it, it is the same kind of metal that some metal farm toys were made from.

Below my signature is a picture, it is the reverse of an 1861-O half I found. This coin comes in at the same reading as other 90% halves I have compared.

I really think you have an 1800's era cast counterfeit.

Pretty cool find.

 

[teverly]

By the looks of the coin the wear should not effect the weight much and it should be near 12.5 grams.
Also in looking at the banner i cant tell if you can read the in god we trust.Since the banner looks like it is not worn flat the motto should be visible.

 

[teverly]

Well i think it was already mentioned,but the last year of seated liberty dollars was 1873.
Then it went to trade dollars,1873 to 1885, then to morgans,1878 to1921.
I dont find a pattern or any other listing for a trial piece dated 1875 in any of my coin material.
So i would say it may be an old fake due to the fact that if you are dumb enough to try and counterfiet a coin that never existed then you get my vote for dumbest criminal of all time.But,if back in the day you did not know the government was going to change the design and you had already made some.......
Will be interesting to see what you find out after you have it checked!!!

Yes, but the coin in question is a 50 cent piece...not a dollar.


Sorry my bad....

 

[fiatboy]

Does your MD read other silver halves? If that coin is counterfeit, it looks like a darn good counterfeit. There have been some really good replies on this topic. Heed them well.

 

[fiatboy]

You better keep us updated, Mark.

 

[InTheWoods]

Thanks for all the great replies!! To answer a few of the questions, I'll start by saying I used an MXT to check it for a silver reading. A 90% silver half should read at 88 in the air, this reads at 40 so I'm thinking pewter or pot metal, more than likely the later. It also does not sound like silver, it's a little higher pitched when dropped. The weight is 10 grams exactly, so it falls short of necessary weight requirement. Looking at it through a 20 power loop I can see "flow" lines from the casting process. Based on these findings I feel it is a counterfeit coin. I don't believe it's necessary to have a dealer check it out. I am not going to clean it as I like it just the way it is. Once again, Thank you to everybody for your comments and/or just looking!

HH Mark

PS: 6 to 8 boxes coming in on Friday...wish me luck!

 

[fiatboy]

Cool find, nonetheless. Good luck with your boxes!

 

[cyberdan]

...PS: 6 to 8 boxes coming in on Friday...wish me luck!

Mark, I wish your back all the luck. That is a load.

My daughters jazz band is having their Jazz Festival this saturday, so no CRH for me I will be running the snackbar 6AM - 8PM I can't even get my regular boxes till monday.

 

[Mike Silver -gold]

Try a magnet on it. At our local flea market I saw a bunch of fake halfs and even seated dollars. They even put fake ware on them. They look great except they are magnatic. Mike.