BWhite

So here are a few pics just for fun.  Let's start with a 1901-S in the condition we found it.

And here is the 1878-O 8TF after a light "cleaning"

Specifications:

Real Diameter 38.10 mm  Fakes Average Diameter 37.97 mm

Real Width 2.4 mm Fakes Average Width 2.73 mm

Real Weight 26.73 g  Fakes Average Weight 23.50 g

Well, I kinda feel stupid at this point.  Just search for "Morgan Silver Dollar Replica" and you will find all sorts of these coins.  Some are marked "Copy" as legally required, most are not!  The specs on these all match an authenticate coin with the weight being the only exception.  Rookie mistake, not to be repeated as I already have two (2) new precision scales.  I will post some pictures as soon as the post office delivers my new "coin cam", which should be today.  Oh and by the way, we found nine (9) more of them over the weekend.   

14 minutes ago, kbbpll said:

Can we see full images of obverse and reverse on a couple examples? Is there any indication of where your father-in-law acquired these? Someone like the Black Cabinet (http://www.theblackcabinet.org/browse/) might be worth contacting. The same markers on many years doesn't surprise me but them all ending up in one collection is odd.

Yes, I'll have a new camera on Monday that should be perfect for some great pics.

22 hours ago, Mk123 said:

OP man that really sucks!!! This is why counterfeits suck, get the hope of family members up, plus who knows how much your father  in law paid for these unsuspecting fakes!!

Hopefully not a lot - we will never know.  Heck, maybe he made 'em !!  [insert disclaimer for government snoop programs here]  :-)

20 minutes ago, Greenstang said:

I believe to sell them in USA you have to have "COPY" stamped on them. Also you wouldn't be able to sell them on eBay whether they had copy stamped on them or not. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes and yes. They’d have to be stamped “copy” and even then forget eBay. Heck you should have seen how fast they pulled my listing for an original German copy of Mein Kampf (Hilter’s book). You can buy and sell the “American” published version no problem, but no way will they allow the uncensored full German published version. Oh yeah, censorship is alive and well in America. 

25 minutes ago, Just Bob said:

If the coins are fake, they need to be removed from the marketplace permanently. Selling them, even with full disclosure, does not mean that some future owner will not try to pass them off as real.

Welcome to the forum, by the way. Sorry that your inheritance turned out to be a disappointment. Were there other coins in the collection?

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I agree with you. And with my luck, and memory, I’d probably be the one that bought them a year from now. 

31 minutes ago, Just Bob said:

Why would you hijack someone's post like that? Please start your own post.

Thanks, was going to ask that myself but being new to this forum I didn’t know if I was missing something or not. 

So much for our excitement over the complete set of Morgan Silver Dollars found in my late father-in-laws collection.  After sending four in for grading and having them all returned as counterfeit I did a little investigating on my own.  Yep, they're fake alright - the weight is wrong by about 3 grams on average for every coin.  OK, I'll accept the fact that they are fakes but has a full set of fakes shown up before? I've seen the details on specific years and mint marks of known fake Morgan's but no where have I seen anything close to a list that includes every single coin.  Well, apparently we've got them all; 1878 - 1904 & 1921.

I also believe, with my limited experience, that each of these coins are from the same forger.  Sixteen of these coins, from sixteen different years, all have the same distinct die mark on the first "T" in STATES (see pic).  Each of these coins also carries the "O" mint mark (New Orleans).

Five that do not exhibit the mark on the "T" do all have the same messed up "S" (first S in STATES).  And all five of these coins have no mint mark.

So that leaves three more individual coins that do not exhibit either of the above defects.  However, I'm pretty sure the 1895 "D" is fake because Denver did not mint any Morgan Silver Dollars, or any silver coins for that matter until 1906.  The 1921 Morgan is the only one that was ever minted at Denver.  The other two (1892 & 1893) both have very poor "S" mint marks.

I am aware that leaves me four short of the 28 total coins, those would be the four sent for grading which are still on there way back home. I'll find out which category above they fit into when they get here.

So now what?  I have a complete set of Morgan Silver Dollars, all of which of course are in wonderful condition, and are worth a lot of money!!  Well, if it wasn't for that little "fake" issue they'd be worth a lot of money.

Voting Time:  Sell or Melt?

Note: any sale would adhere to all laws regarding such