JKK

If this comes about, you are morally obligated to post a pic of you both playing (or pretending to play) banjos.

No reason you shouldn't. Always make sure you ask a question (or multiple questions), so people know what to answer. You'd be amazed how many people just post a coin pic with no question. Reality: you will be the only one to whom it will matter whose coins they were. Those reviewing the forum will probably look at the thread title to see if the coins sound interesting; the Papaw part won't have much impact. If so, and they have a useful answer, they will likely give it. I skip most of the threads because I'm mainly a world/ancient guy and I don't care about 1965 pennies or 1982 dimes even if a mint employee seems to have engraved a great big phallus on the die. But other people do, so they respond.

You mentioned a desire to see which should be professionally graded. That depends on your hopeful outcome. If the value is not important, but creating a slick-looking set is the goal, then one might spend $30-60 per coin getting them slabbed. If however the goal is to enhance marketability, the hard question you're really asking is whether a good outcome would likely end up paying for the slabbing and then some. One also bears in mind that most coins for auction are expected to be slabbed--in part because that's a way of confirming authenticity. But know also that the auction houses can send them in for grading for you, and you get their volume discounting and preference. It is often best to let the auction house choose which grading service; they know the tendencies of each.
So if you thought you had a real 1776 Continental, and the consensus concurred, you'd probably risk the money on it. If you had a 1909-S VDB penny, especially in nicer condition, likewise. If you had a coin worth max $40, though...well, you can see the low level of sense there--IF the goal is marketability.

If this comes about, you are morally obligated to post a pic of you both playing (or pretending to play) banjos.

Each coin in its own thread will be ideal. That way, the discussion can scroll off naturally as the subject matter is exhausted. Looking forward to seeing them, and if they end up putting you along a river in the Ozarks, listening to fifty head in the pasture, I'll be very happy for you.

Just to be clear JKK, I am not getting my hopes up. Nor do I want to convey to you guys that I think I have something special. I am fully prepared to accept the coins and paper bills for what they are, and for what their market value is. 
If they aren't anything special, I will keep it all and pass them down to my two sons. If I have something worth a retirement, well, Papaw will be looking down smiling and thinking "Your welcome bubba!", and I will buy my wife that land she wants. Raisin cattle and fishin trout in Arkansas Ozarks.....that is my idea of the good life. 

Yeah no problem. I'm an admin on another site, and I play the "clean-up" game all the time. So, I "get-it". I'll take your advice, and re-post it.

From the top of the Ask NGC forum:
Ask NGC/NCS
13 Moderator-reviewed questions answered by NGC/NCS.   Questions are only visible to the author initially, but will be made public if they're of general interest to the community. Start new topic  Mark forum as read My emphasis added. At first I was perplexed because I haven't seen anyone do it this way before, though there isn't any firm guidance in the forum as to whether one would want to do it this way or not. So here's the guidance: I'd use that forum purely for questions on the coin grading and conservation process as performed by NGC and NCS. Other questions, including ID and grading questions, are best posted in the Newbie forum (if you want to be looked at as a novice and given appropriate education) or US/World/whateverelseitis coins (if you feel a little more secure in your understanding). Not that it really matters much which one you use. In any case, if you repost your thread in Newbie or US/World, where you will actually get replies sooner rather than later, no one's going to piddle themselves. For one thing, they can't see your original thread, so they will have no idea you reposted its contents. And again, big kudos to you for making a serious effort to figure out where to post what, and how to do so, before just diving in. It's uncommon.

Right this moment it says I don't have permission to see it, but I look forward to when I can.

I did. THis is my first post. Found this thread searching for 1776 Continental Curency. I have what appears to be pewter 1776 piece. I've had it in my possession for 25 years. My grandfather had it since he was a kid, he was born in 1929. I am fully aware the likelihood it is a fake. If it is a fake, it is fairly convincing to this "newbie". I respect the real experts grow tired of answering the same questions over and over again. I will continue to research this piece and will not post about it until I have exhausted my own ability to tell if it is real or not. It weighs just over 15 grams. If it is real, it is getting auctioned so my wife and I can finally buy that large piece of property on the White River in Arkansas....wish me luck ya'll.

vkurt-  its not questioning their expertise.  i dont see anything wrong with the fact i want to know why or how an expert got to the conclusion that they did.  its not at all wrong to have an opinion and stand by ur opinion if nobody is able to or willing to explain to me how they got to their conclusion.  part of being a seasoned vet or expert is teaching what u know to the less experienced.  if i ask my grandpa how he knows what he knows about antiques and he says because i know, im gonna tell him thats a wildly_fanciful_statement explanation and would expect him to teach me something.  it doesnt take that much longer to teach someone, or explain why they think what they do than it would to give any type of response to begin with.  if theyre that confident in their knowledge they should easily be able to explain it so that the person who asks the question understands why and how their coin isnt what they think it is which leaves the expert not feeling upset for having his expertise questioned, and the new guy more knowledgable than he was which will hopefully prevent another post like this from popping up because he can know apply what was taught to future situations.  he can also potentially answer anothers question because he was taught properly by an expert.   it doesnt take much to be a decent person and help others out when u can.  

hypcrites, douchebags arrogent ppl i cant stand.  it has nothig to do wiht the aanswers u guys gave.  just the guy who talked mess then siaid he thinks it wasused s a shim.. its like ppl who try to tell others the rules of impeachment but they say mess like theres no stadards of evidence required in the house or senate cuz its not a triaal but it literally says in the precedents, the rule book so to speak, that there is.  clear and convincing and beyond doubt.  these are law graduates, professors,  harvard ppl who are wrong.  so to think someoe should accept answers without explanation isntsomething ima be doing, u can... yes the political reference is bait because i am curious to see who takes it and y.  hopefyully crawtomatic takes it...  
 
honestly im good with the answer its not a special coin, i was shown why it most likelt isnt and im  to the next 1.  just dont talk mess then provide the dumbest suggestion someone could come up with, and were good.

and thats not anywhere close to brutal kurt.  i agree with u.  u hate sensitve ppl i hate douchebags,  u think my reaction to a person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed s being sestive to ur answers, but ts rly just me hatng a person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed and piece of mess.  not u, the green dude or w.e.  neever once hada issue with anyoe other than that guy.  i saisd that multiple times aswell/.

last thing kurt- i didnt think me specifically talking mess to some clown and callng him out for his dumb suggestion and lack of being able to tell me why i was wrong like u and others were able to do would be taken as im sensitive or not accepting answers.  i believe i said thank you and at some point ackowledged one of the suggestions was prolly what it is.  calling someone out for being an arrogant egotistical person_who_is_obnoxiously_self-impressed bag that has no business walking with his chest out isnt being sensitive.  
and like you hate ppl who cant take the truth, i do as well, i hate equally, prolly more so, experts in any field, who cant or wont take another min to explain their opinion and how they got to that conclusion so that the person who asked the question is able to learn how to not make the sme mistake again.  its the same ppl who say dont be a noob, in my experience, who cant or wont teach becuase theyre either not educated enough to do so or are just salty pos. who would rather be an individual_without_enough_empathy than help someone learn the right way.  all i can do is research as much as i can, learn from mistakes i make amd listen to more expweienced ppl when they take time to teach.  im sure thats how u learned or maybe u had a teacher, either way what the guy said was something that i cant stand although i ended up beibg wrong, it wwsnt him that provided any constructive input to the conversation and his expertise is proven to be worthless.  as i said you and a few others i pointed out the fact i respected ur input, opinion and if i didnt say it i meant to, that what u mentioned makes sense i can understand why its prolly that and why it fits etter than anything i was considering.  it takes what, 2 min maybe to teach the how and why?  whtout it all ur giving is an unsupported opinion and claiming expertise means nothing if u cnt prove it.  i checked and i absolutely acknowledged the input from the 3 ppl who had something intelligent to say, KURT BOB KPPLL I CUTLER i believe were the ones, i said thank you and fter being explained how u came to ur conclussion acknowledge i ws wrong and again said ty.  oly negative remarks were meat for the one guy.  so once again, to make sure its clear, i appreciate ur advice, thank you kindly for takng the time to respond and help me understand ur opinion, i can now make a more educated decision if i cme acrss something similr in the future.  
and cuz its the biggest news of the day, GO NINERS!!! 
as for crawtomatic- you go around the forums trying to link accounts together and claim their some bot or prgram without anything other than someone talking mess to frm ur not_in_tune_with_social_norms crazy theory.  thank god u didnt gtry to become a detective because a lot of innocet ppl would be in jail and guilty ppl free.  ill applaud u for that as i smile at u and tell u ur absolutely better than me, at wht i dont know, but u sure do help generate easy money for me!!!  u took the time to reply to my post and i cant thankj you enough for the free publicity.  i welcome ur form of "trllng" as it will only generate more views for my posts and ultimately more ppl adding to the conversation.  thank you for proving a topic i wrote a blog about ad can now do a follw up to provng my point.  thanks big guy . 

Congratulations. You have just become one of the few new members with an apparent rarity who was the first to conclude that his coin was not authentic or a rarity. We normally get big arguments from Team Wishful Thinking over this. I'm serious and not making fun of you over it: this is great, and I suspect I'm not the only one who finds it very refreshing.

You have had it tested for silver?
That asked, the weight sounds right, since that's about the number of grams in an ounce. One reason these are a popular medium of exchange in semi-anarchic regions like the Yemen and Somalia is they aren't paper money issued by a government that might be dumped, and everyone knows what they consist of. The overwhelming majority of MaTés, as I call them, are modern or semi-modern replicas intended not to hoodwink collectors but to serve as legitimate bullion for commerce. Since they are not the currency of any current government, no country will prosecute/extradite anyone for minting more.
kbb's post was very helpful. If I were you I could blow up both pictures and examine them for fussy details of comparison. Look for straight lines that aren't quite straight, letters that are slightly blundered, nitpicking inconsistencies.

Most of them are modern to somewhat modern copies minted as bullion coins, especially popular in the Horn of Africa. Few Maria Theresias go back, but the date has never been changed. Here is a place you can research the different originals and some of the known replica variants.

I have been around enough cows to know what manure is. I can see it and smell it, and I don't have to hold it in my hand and examine it to know what it is. The cows don't shoot out "trial patties" or "experimental droppings."
The same concept applies here. Everyone of us who has replied to this thread knows what we are talking about. The coin is a fake, plain and simple.
I am through trying to explain it to you. Respond as you please, or don't. I don't care.

It helped that you brought something interesting. People don't post those daily. Most people are posting things we find in our own pockets, and many of those think that they have just found their retirement, and we have to tell them a whole lot of "no." Even more so with 1804 silver dollars, 1776 Continental dollars, and such. One might understand where we'd fatigue of seeing those and telling people what they do not want to hear, over and over.

It's toned, but it isn't the sort of toning that is much sought after. I would say it slightly hurts the grade, but the details are there for an AU-55 unless there's some evidence of a very old cleaning that we can't see.

When you post a question about a coin or coins, it's worth remembering that the people giving you answers--unless it is specifically about an NGC policy matter or submission--are volunteer hobbyists who do this for fun. They are not speaking for NGC; they speak only for themselves, and they want to help people. When you do a good job of posting your inquiry, you increase your chances of helpful replies, because you show respect for the volunteers' time.
Please do:
Ask a question, or multiple questions. We need to know what to focus on. Authenticity? Grade? Identification? Value? All of these? Think about your questions. "What would this grade at NGC?" and "What grade would you give this coin?" are two very different questions. If you ask the first one, only people who know a lot about NGC's ways have much to offer you. "How much is this worth?" is another nebulous question. Better: "What would a dealer pay me for this?" Or: "What would a dealer sell this for?" Post clear photos of the entire obverse, reverse, and if necessary the edge. If need be, add zoomed photos of specific features, but always clear shots of both full sides. Post all pictures of a given coin in the same thread. Accept that if you have photographic limitations, and you keep posting badly photographed coins, you'll keep being told they're not good enough to use to answer your question. You can't expect everyone to read all your threads and know your circumstances, be they poverty or Parkinson's or can'tbebothereditis. It's not their fault your photos can't or won't get better, even if it is also not always your own fault. Use a thread title that describes the coin(s), so that people who know the subject matter are likelier to read the thread. If you just inherited Bampaw's silver dollar collection which you can see spans the period 1850-1921, you could title it "Evaluating silver dollar collection 1850-1921." People who know a lot about those silver dollars will see it and be likely to help you. "Grading advice" is bad; everyone wants grading advice. "Morgan dollar grading advice" is good. "Is this fake?" is bad. "Is this Chinese silver coin fake?" is good. Post only once per coin. (If you have received a huge collection, and you want to start with a picture of the whole hoard with zoomed shots of parts, that's no problem. This guideline is intended to keep people from slamming multiple fully photographed coins into a single thread, making it difficult to figure out which one the answers are talking about. So if it's a hoard, and you single out some for close scrutiny, go with new threads for each of those.) If the picture files are too large in terms of data, learn to make them smaller without losing necessary information. Paint.net is a free image editor for Windows. Open your pictures in it, crop them, and save them as .jpgs. Look at what sizes they are now. This is too easy. If there is any question of identification or authentication, include weight in grams and diameter in millimeters. If you don't know the metric system, use an online converter. Weight is one of the key diagnostics of authenticity and unless the coin is too obviously bogus to bother, you will be asked for it. Just include it with your first post. Tell us what you know, or what you believe to be the case, about the coin. It's okay to be incorrect. Understand that the term "melt" does not automatically mean someone plans to melt the coin down, nor is anyone suggesting you should. It refers simply to the value of the metal for its own sake. Do not freak out when someone says "melt" about Bampaw's Morgan dollars. We really do not want or expect you to throw it in a blast furnace, all right? Use punctuation. Being easy to read works to your benefit. When you write a twelve-line paragraph with no periods or commas, people tune you out. For those who need reminders, this , is a comma. You use it to separate phrases, more or less. This . is a period. You use it to end most sentences. Hitting Enter will insert a paragraph break. You use this between series of thoughts. Live them. Love them. Use them. because ill tell u what really suxors is when some1 posts sententses like this 1 4 about half a page its impossibel 2 read and some people including me will prob not finish readin it which means u arent gettin as many respontses think about it ur only hurtin ur own cozz notice how stooped this reads ur in affect makin urself ten times harder 2 help and frankly its disrespectfull 2 assume entellegent people should do all that extra work 4 ur sake now kinely clean up ur act and rite like u at least got thru 6ixth grade im glad we had this little talk Come prepared to accept responsive answers. Brace yourself to learn that Bampaw or Opa, always considered the family's Great Numismatist, may not have been so great at this. No one seeks to offend your relative's legacy, but the coin must be called what it is. Be patient. No one who doesn't know the answer is going to post "I don't know." It can take days to a week for someone to notice. Remember that some inquiries may require research, for which volunteers are not being paid, and are doing as they have time. Expect that opinions may vary, even among experienced numismatists. Realize that if you're rude and/or difficult, your problem is not the people who take time to fight with you. Your problem is the people who, without a word, mark you down as someone not to bother with in the future--because you have no idea who or how many they are, and thus have no power to alleviate that diagnosis. Kindly do not:
Just post pictures without giving any indication of what you want to learn. Post glare-obscured, blurry, or otherwise poor photos. Post only partial pictures of errors or damage. Complain that your pics are too big to post. Use an image editor to crop and save them as .jpgs. Get defensive when told your pics are not good. Maybe you're bad at photography; maybe you don't have a good camera; maybe the photography gods just don't like you. If you can do better, do so. If you cannot do better, than just accept that this limits how much we can help you. Post a new thread for every photo of the same coin. Post new threads in the same forum, or other forums, with reference to the same coin. Once suffices. The shotgun approach makes one look impatient and immature. Use a meaningless thread title like "looking for advice" or "no idea what 2 do" or "plz help." Those tell people nothing about the discussion except that it was begun by someone who picks meaningless thread titles. Omit weight and diameter, unless they are completely irrelevant to your question. Get annoyed if you don't like the answers. If you disagree with them, fine; act on your views. Ask us to tell you how we know it's a counterfeit. While that's a legit question on its face, the problem is that even if you didn't mint the fake, those who make them are always looking for ways to improve. We frown upon supplying helpful feedback to criminals, and so should you. So no, don't ask us that. And if we tell you politely that we aren't going into detail, don't get annoyed because you don't like that answer. Grouse about not getting any replies. No one knows everything; no one has unlimited time; sometimes no one knows the answer. Come in telling how many Youtube videos you have watched about coins. This will lower your credibility. Use Photobucket links. If you do, don't anticipate that people will use them. Photobucket has been connected with numerous malware and virus infections. Spell 'nickel' as 'nickle.' Whether referring to the element or the five-cent coin, this misspelling is a very bad look. If you take the time to do this correctly, you can learn a lot more here than if you skip important steps.
If you do not take the time to do this correctly, some posters may decide that their time is better spent helping other people.
Lastly, here is a Cliff's Notes version that would take care of 95% of the most common disappointed inquiries. If you want to post yours anyway, fine, but just please kindly do not engage in a protracted and dullard debate when you are told that:
Your 1804 silver dollar is a bad counterfeit. Look up authentic examples and compare closely. Your 1776 Continental dollar is a bad counterfeit or a souvenir replica. Many were churned out. What you think is a double die is almost surely mechanical doubling, which carries no premium. What you think is a mint error is likely post-mint damage, and your coin is worth face value. Your "silver" non-1943 penny is plated, replated, has had the plating come off, is altered, or somesuch. Your "bronze" 1943 penny is altered somehow, and is worth very little. Your Greek "silver" coin with flanges sticking out of its edges is a bad cast counterfeit. Your cheesy-looking brass token is not gold, and is not a coin. Any clown can mint brass tokens with bad designs. Cleaning your coins is a stupid idea. Yes, even for you. You, too. If you ask how, listen to the people who tell you not to do so. If you cite Etsy as an authority, people will laugh their heads off with good reason. This is horrible for your cred. If you cite a Youtube video as an authority, people will laugh with good reason. This is bad for your cred. If you have more than three supposed error coins you found in change, and plan to post them all, the odds are overwhelming that none of them are mint errors worthy of note. If you keep posting these without seeming to learn, people might conclude that learning is not your thing. There, that rounds up the usual suspects. I'm not saying those answers are automatically always right. However, as the strongest probabilities, they should be presumed correct unless they can be proven wrong. If you have one child and something is broken in the house, not by you or your spouse, typically the child did it. If you can prove the kid innocent, fair enough; but you know the kid almost surely did it. If you argue about a "double die" at fatuous length when it's clear you don't know what one really is, you will look like the kid with soot all over him insisting he didn't really dig around in the fireplace.
Don't be that kid.
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Opinions, comments, additions, suggestions?

Some of us are primarily world and ancient collectors who spend most of our time on here marking as read threads that concern someone's post-1950 damaged coin find. Just because we do not get many reps on here does not mean we are not on other boards, or out collecting in real life. This is not my primary collecting information and buying locus. In fact, it is the least impactful one in which I participate, the one with the highest pain-to-gain ratio. If it weren't for the ability to ignore someone, I'd be long gone.
I am pretty sure that every country has rules against counterfeiting. The problem with your statement was that it presumed that the counterfeiters were operating in the US. Given some of the usernames and use of English in play, I think there's reasonable doubt. Do you think it's illegal in China to counterfeit US coinage? If so, it's not being enforced very well, which is the same as having nearly no law. That some of them are testing the waters and trying to improve their offshore counterfeiting of US rarities is quite likely.

Nice piece. Doesn't show any signs of the incuse Indian head gold fakes I recently ran into, which doesn't guarantee authenticity, but is better news than if they did. Wear looks very light; AU-58 seems quite reasonable. If the slight flattening on the high points is strike weakness, could be MS.

Sir sorry u fill that way did u See the second and thrid set aswell and I'm shore you still dont.thats okay have a nice day

The observable evidence, as always taking the images for gospel (color can sometimes photograph oddly):
It's worn down to G. No chance of VG; too good for AG. It has light scratches that might not be easily spotted in hand (images are blown up, of course). The light parts don't look natural. They look like what you get with a bad cleaning. The darkened parts don't look natural. They look like what you get when you try artificially retoning a bad cleaning, or when it is perhaps exposed to some influence (could be a liquid, could be old paper, could be deteriorating plastic, could be who knows what). Does that mean it was cleaned? Not necessarily. Does all that fully explain what happened to it? Not that I am aware, but I'm not an expert. Is it a great find, an IHP in an old truck? Boy howdy it is. Does it give people a good example of what unnatural bronze cents look like? In my view, yes.

I don't see any patina that looks natural to me (taking the photo coloration at face value). I see a well worn but not much damaged IHP that is bright in some of the wrong places, and where even the patina looks like what you'd get if you whizzed the coin and then parts of it had opportunity to tone up more than others. If you'd like a study portion to examine, take a look at the shield on the reverse. Half of it is that unnatural darkened color, half is brightened on high points and low. I struggle with figuring out a natural way it could get that way.
I can't say for absolute certain what happened to the coin, but it doesn't look naturally aged. Anything worn that flat should typically be a nice deep chocolate brown all over, because to wear that flat, it had to see a lot of circulation. One thing I find helpful is to try and imagine a legit way the coin could get to the state in which we see it. How would a copper coin get worn down that much, yet preserve original copper brightness? Stretches credibility. But if it were at least once cleaned, then fell behind a seat and was partly in contact with something like an old paper towel or what have you, maybe that happened. I just don't see a legit wear scenario. If anyone can imagine one, by all means propose it. Maybe I've whiffed on something.