1875 Seated But is it....

SoCalMark

SoCalMark

Full Member
Dec 28, 2006
147
7
Inland Empire
Detector(s) used
MXT, Explorer II
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

seated001.jpg
seated002.jpg
 

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By all means....do not clean it!!!! I am no expert & not even close but I would take it to a coin dealer to have them look at it for their opinion. Does it look silver to you?

Geeezem...that is one heck of a find Mark. I hope it is real!!! Please keep us posted on what you do.

I'd be cutting flips even it were counterfeit!!!

I wish Immy would chime in....he is VERY knowledgable on coins. We need Immy!!
 

I think it looks good like it is..why do you even want to clean it?... regardless of what it's worth... You'll lose all the "character" of it.

just my 50 cents....
 

Probably is a fake,but i agree with copperhead.
It looks good the way it is......
 

At first look, it sure looks real to me. NICE FIND either way !

That is weird though, about the silver VDI being off on your detector... that
doesnt seem right. Also, that crack/hole looks like it goes entirely through
the coin ? I wouldnt think silver would "crack" like that.... silver is malleable,
so that would be a tough thing to happen I would think. Then again, I dont know
squat about the subject LOL.

Definitely get an expert opinion. With this being your hobby, you and all of us
can just tell when things are silver :) If you doubt it, check it out for sure.

Sweet find regardless !!
 

If it IS counterfeit, then it will probably be MORE rare and MORE valuable than a regular one of the same year and mintmark. It looks to be a fine quality counterfeit coin, if indeed it is one. So DON'T CLEAN IT! Are you sure it doesn't register/air test as silver? Have you tried an ID machine like an XLT or DFX?

Buckleboy
 

You need to weigh it. My friend just bought a 1945 dollar that was counterfeit and it was a good counterfeit. Apparently it was a cast coin, not minted and only weighed 22 grams, not the 26.7 grams it should have been. So find out what the weight should be, and get a digital scale. Not fun finding a fake coin ;D
 

Mark, I'm with the silver queen and others, don't clean it. In my humble opinion, it is probably not a fake. Who would go to all the trouble to counterfit a coin that is worth only $20-$30? That would be kinda like making counterfit $1.00 bills instead of 20's 50's or 100's. If I were to go to the trouble of making a counterfit half, I think I would go for the 1878s ($15,000 in G4 condition) or even an 1874cc($350 in G4). But that's just my thoughts on the deal. Get it to the coin dealer before you do anything. Fiatboy seems well versed in silver coinage and bullion, maybe he will get on here and give his fitty cent worth. Good luck!
 

Back in the day a lot of coins were counterfeited.
Even some v nickles were gold plated and people tried to pass them off as real gold coins.
I have a lot of silver coins and have never seen one cracked like that.
I have a capped bust 50 cent piece i found while detecting,of course it turns out to be made of German silver(pewter).It is also a dull color and did not read like silver,more like a piece of aluminum.
And if it is fake it is pretty much worthless according to the graders that looked at my coin.
I still think it is a neat find though!!!
 

don't forget if your coin dealer or research don't prove fruitful try a jeweler it may be worth a shot since they deal with cast metal all the time and should be able to verify wether its cast or a bad planchet
 

It is more than likely a Chinese counterfiet!! These pieces of crap have been popping up all over! Check the mint marks and dates to see if they are even a year and a mint thatwas ever struck. That is where many of them are flawed. Also keep an eye out for rust speckels. I got hosed by a few a year ago, and ever since I have seen them more frequently.
 

GPURS said:
Who would go to all the trouble to counterfit a coin that is worth only $20-$30? That would be kinda like making counterfit $1.00 bills instead of 20's 50's or 100's. If I were to go to the trouble of making a counterfit half, I think I would go for the 1878s ($15,000 in G4 condition) or even an 1874cc($350 in G4).
Click to expand...

Nobody said it was a RECENT counterfeit! Of course it isn't recent, because of the reason you said, as well as the wear on the coin. Who would go to the trouble TODAY? No one. BUT...take a look at how much money 50 cents was back in the 1880's. Quite a nice bit of cash for anyone with the skills to cast a hundred of these. So my two cents is that period counterfeit coins are frequently worth more than their real counterparts. Weigh it to find out. Don't clean it.

Regards,

Buckleboy
 

I don't know...it's got some good honest wear on it, and I believe the trade dollar is the more commonly counterfeited coin. You may have the real deal...have a pro look at it and keep us posted!

:)

sc
 

I understand that the coin is not recently minted. There has been discussion regarding Asian fakes (which are relatively new) and others who think it is a much older fake. The link that Sheldius provided kind of, in a round about way makes my point. If someone (either today or in the 1800's) has the ability and skill to fake a coin, they are going to counterfit the coin with the most value or profit for them. My question would be, if you can create a coin as nice as Marks half, why would they waste their time on halves and not just make the liberty seated silver dollars? I guess we'll find out soon enough if it is fake or not, but for the time being I choose to be an optimist. I'm pulling for ya Mark!
 

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!!!
 

Must be worth at least $.50!
It ended up in a Fed roll didn't it?
Hope it's real - neat find!
 

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I paid... but im happy.

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