1888 Morgan "O" Hot Lips

homestead-hunter

Full Member
Jan 18, 2013
185
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Roswell, New Mexico
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I WISH! I was hoping, but I dont think it is, too hard to tell, her upper lip just looked a little too fat. Found at a ghost town in New Mexico. Second 1888 found here.

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Upvote 3
This may be the very rare Botox error coin.Kidding Nice find.congrats
 

Maybe its been in outer space and was damaged "in the crash" upon its return to earth? [ could not help myself, sorry]
 

If it was found at a ghost town, I highly doubt that it is counterfeit.
 

If it was found at a ghost town, I highly doubt that it is counterfeit.
Stick around a while new guy. You'll learn something. Doesn't matter where it was found. Only matters what it is. Was actually VERY easy to see and figure out that it's a cft. coin.
 

There have been counterfeits ever since coins were first minted. Have you done any tests to see if it is silver?
 

Stick around a while new guy. You'll learn something. Doesn't matter where it was found. Only matters what it is. Was actually VERY easy to see and figure out that it's a cft. coin.
I'm actually not very 'new' to coin collecting. Sure there have been counterfeits since coins have been around, but have the counterfeits always been as good looking as the original coin? Did you think that the coin could have been heavily toned? I know it's a far shot but it is possible.

After doing a little research, though, I'm left on the fence. I'm still leaning towards it being real, but I wouldn't buy it if it was offered to me for sale. The 'O' seems to be dropped to close in between the D and O in dollar, but mint marks were punched into the die at the time so they are in different spots.

It's an iffy call for me.
 

Hope it is real, but it looks to be a counterfeit to my eye. Honestly, that makes it more interesting in my opinion. The missing section looks like a "melt test" and apparently it failed. Not sure but the color of it makes me think it is Tin, or perhaps a Tin/Lead alloy blended to approximate the weight of 90% silver, though that would require a good quantity of lead which would make it softer. Relatively pure tin is hard enough (and melts at a very low temp too) to make casting counterfeits somewhat simple for someone without fancy equipment. The chunk missing could have been accidentally ripped off when taken from the mold and the protruding excess metal removed (think musket balls or old cast bronze chinese coins). Probably melted after the fact though. Very interesting find, it truly is.
 

Check the coin with a magnet, many counterfeit silver dollars are magnetic.

Also as someone mentioned many of the old counterfeit coins are worth more than the real coins, so it a great find real are not.
 

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