Silver Dollars in the mail (pictures)

[04 Diesel]

My daughter and son in law are in the Army and in Afghanistan, they know I collect coins. They got me some coins about three weeks ago, from an Afghanistan boy. They sent them to me in the mail, got them today. I am very excited, when I opened the package there are three Silver dollars that came out. The first is a 1889 Morgan Silver dollar, the second is a 1877 Trade dollar, the third is a 1799 Draped Bust silver dollar! They payed three dollars for all of the coins. Why would a Afghanistan boy have American silver dollars? I will try to get some pictures up soon, let me know what you guys think. Thanks.

 

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[Pimp Lenin]

Seems like I read awhile back that a lot of these fakes are coming from China.

 

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[creeper71]

And one could only guess the money from these coins could be going to terrorist. I hope not. But if it is going to terrorist it's like buying the bullets that killed you.

This reply seems inappropriate an should have been kept to your self in my opinion... I'm sure there worried enough about their loves ones without someone writing something like this to make them feel guilty on top of it if something would happen...

 

[04 Diesel]

And one could only guess the money from these coins could be going to terrorist. I hope not. But if it is going to terrorist it's like buying the bullets that killed you.

That is a nice thought, thankyou!

 

[DigginThePast]

While I do think they are copies I think the best advice would be to have a professional evaluate them to remove any doubt.

Please pass along my thanks to your daughter and son in law for their service to this country.

 

[Cheeko]

Nice

 

[JP]

04 Diesel,

They look nice.  I have found several old US coins out of the country for great deals.  I don't deal in high end coins but have found incredible deals on seated halfs, morgans, and others. 

There's the possibility they might be real.  Have a coin dealer check them out.  Don't let others bring your excitement down.

Hope your family gets to come home soon.

 

[04 Diesel]

04 Diesel,

They look nice. I have found several old US coins out of the country for great deals. I don't deal in high end coins but have found incredible deals on seated halfs, morgans, and others.

There's the possibility they might be real. Have a coin dealer check them out. Don't let others bring your excitement down.

Hope your family gets to come home soon.

Thankyou.

 

[ivan salis]

these fake coins come out of china's infamous "black market" dealings -- crooks and theives and terrorist funding folks scam americans and other folks into thinking getting a "steal" from "stupid rube locals" they use the funds they get from selling these fakes to buy drugs (for resale and use) and arms and supplies for their criminal and terrorist groups. -- if you unknowingly buy these coins --thinking your "getting over" on the locals --the very cruel joke is on you.

so when overseas beware of too good to be true bargins on old coins, and check them out very carefully -- one rule of thumb is the price is less than "spot silver": --beware even dumb folks know not to sell for less than what the "scrap" metal is worth.

they most likely have a steel or copper core with an overcoat of silver -- generally speaking the weight will be off in most cases -- but their getting better and better at making "knock offs"

 

[Jack(IN)]

Check the size against other silver dollars, many fakes can be bought that are slightly smaller than the real deal!! Sure hope they are real, but the odds are they are fake.

 

[Pimp Lenin]

I found the article that I remember reading about the fake coins coming from China. It seems to be a major operation:

http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/Chinese-Counterfeiting-Ring/

Considering that Afghanistan is a stone's throw from China, I would be wary of the coins. Get them checked by an expert. If they are real, you got a deal of a lifetime. If they are not, then count them as a unique souvenir from Afghanistan.

 

[l.cutler]

Unfortunately as has been said, these are all fake. Some of the fakes are getting hard to detect, but these ones are pretty easy to spot.

 

[jeff of pa]

Being the 1799 is an Obvious Fake

I would have to say the Other 2 Are also.

Cool Find though

 

[Arizona Bob]

There are more than a few obvious differences between the two images of the 1799's: Nose different, missing ear, two hair ribbons instead of three, etc.

 

[Ifoundit69]

I have to say those coins are in mint condition .And when you mentioned where they came from that really got my mind wondering as to why that little boy had them and is there more and what the story is on how they got that far from home ...I do hope you get the scoop on all this information would love to hear about it ..keep us posted ....

 

[TimC (North Alabama)]

Still a nice high as long as it lasted, but they are still very nice.

 

[madmacabre]

Theyre all fake. no doubt in my mind. Sadly there is no silver in them either

 

[allen]

like someone said earlier, let your local coin dealer have a look at them and if they are real, awesome deal, if they are fake, $3 still wasnt a bad deal for them...
Tell your kids be safe ....

 

[prolab69]

cool coins!, sucks that thier fake, also kinda sucks as to where the funding might go to. Nice keepsake tho, I would probably have them etched or drilled out to the pattern of the coin and have keychains made out of them...they are fake...turn them into a welcome home gift when they come home safe.

 

[JP]

On the subject of fake coins that come out of China, a lot are sold on eBay. Most are coins that are too good to be true. They are made in quantities and sold cheap. These are also the ones that sell the WWII Japanese swords that they say are thousands of years old, and the other ancient artifacts that they say are thousands of years old. If these three are fakes, $3 is not a lot. Those $3 went to feed that child's family not to fund terrorism.

I'm currently in a 2nd/3rd world country so I know a little bit about the sale of fake goods. I see them on the street over here, mostly movies and music cds. The money doesn't go to fund terrorism or other major world crisis. The money goes to feed poor families that buy pirated items for less then a dollar and sell them for a few cents more. The ones making the major part of the money, mostly are other poor people who just happen to have a little bit more that had the money to invest in something to make or buy fake goods in quantity. There's also a big part of it that goes to corrupt officials, who also use it to feed their families.

Money that funds terrorism, according to the news, comes from people donating to supposedly "good causes" that gets funneled into criminal or terrorist groups. Donations from sometimes people living in the US that don't know where the final check goes. Many of these have been shut down. Also our dependence on foreign oil funds some of these groups. Where did I get this information Some from the news, some from personal experiences, etc.

But, back to the coins. Let 04 Diesel have them checked by a dealer before giving him a line of discouragement. He is happy with the coins that his family sent him from a war zone. I'm sure that there isn't a day that he isn't worried and wants his family back in the States. So even if the coins aren't real or are real give him a chance to have them checked. If they turn out not to be real at least he has 3 nice souvenirs from Afghanistan (or China). And, he can be assured the money used to purchase them went to buy food not bullets. Most people who live in war zones (believe it or not) are more worried about getting food than ammo.

I'm not trying to get on to those that are saying they are fakes, I'm just saying have a little heart.

 

[romeo-1]

They are fake but to me they are still something I would not part with! The work being done in Afghanistan by these men and women is history in the making and these coins are a small piece of that history now.