Trade Dollar, Real or no?

[Bugmann1974]

I bought this Trade dollar quite some time ago, It is worn and damaged but it only cost me about 2X melt and looks just fine in my Dansco 7070.

 

Sometimes I find myself wondering, with how many fakes there are of these.

Is my Trade dollar real?

 

It weighs if I remember correctly at right around 27 grams, and it has the correct sound for a silver dollar.

 

[MarkFeld]

It looks genuine to me.

[Bugmann1974]

Thanks Mark, The weakness of stars 1-4 and "United" had me thinking it might not be.

[MarkFeld]

Thanks Mark, The weakness of stars 1-4 and "United" had me thinking it might not be.

You're welcome and I hope I'm right. There are so many counterfeits that it's scary to give opinions on them these days.

[michael]

i second mark and yes it is a genuine coin

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

It's really just pathetic. Counterfeiters are . Flooding the market with their will only succeed in driving away anyone who doesn't have a PhD in counterfeit detection, and ultimately ruin the market.

 

Now they're down to counterfeiting $1 coins.

 

Talk about sucking the fun out of life.

 

Counterfeiters should be shot. Dead.

[James_OldeTowne]

I looks genuine to me, and I actually like how well used it is. Neat!

[Bugmann1974]

(thumbs u I call it a Chopped trade dollar with no chops

[gbsten]

Two times melt? Hope you factored in the missing chucks for your melt value!!! Chopmarks are ok for a Trade Dollar and I don't think just "chops" are ok....

[stev32k]

I have to go against the conscious opinion here and say it's counterfeit. The reason is the wheat stalks directly behind liberties pedestal is a protected area of the design and the last area on the obverse to show wear. If you notice the word "liberty" on the ribbon is still mostly visible as is "in God we trust" on the base. On a genuine Trade Dollar these wear off before the wheat stalks show any wear.

 

Counterfeiters have a really hard time making the stalks show the same detail as the original coins, and that is one of the first things I look for on trade dollars.

 

Here is a genuine VF20 note the wheat stalks show almost no wear at all. The rope holding the stalks together protects the stalks. Also look directly below the hand holding the ribbon that is another protected area that counterfeiters have a hard time duplicating.

 

[MarkFeld]

Steve, the example you posted isn't nearly as worn, so I don't see how your points about stronger details necessarily apply. On the other hand, if you were to show us one which is as worn, but with stronger details in the areas you mentioned, I'd be far more likely to be swayed.

[MikeInFL]

I'm nowhere near as experienced as some who have weighed in on this coin, but I must admit the weak strike on the left side of the coin makes my numismatic eyebrows raise.

[stev32k]

Unfortunately I don't have one with that much wear. The closest I can come is this F-12. Notice the word "liberty" on the ribbon is completely worn away as is most of the motto, but the wheat stalks are still strong.

 

 

Here is the best struck counterfeit I've seen. It's not my photograph and the white balance is off, but the strike is really good. Even with this good strike the wheat stalks still not show the detail of a well worn genuine coin.

 

 

However, it's only my opinion and I could be wrong. I would really need to see the coin in hand. There are so many counterfeit T$ out there that I don't even trust all of them in holders. I've seen a couple of counterfeit ANACS holders with counterfeit T$ in them.

[stev32k]

I forgot to ask about the obverse/reverse orientation. About 90% of all counterfeits have it wrong. The up orientation is 180 degrees apart on genuine coins - most all counterfeits have both sides up.

[Bugmann1974]

The coin orientation is correct, as is size and weight.

 

 

 

[fishfinder]

(thumbs u I like this thread. Get out the camera and take more pics. I must have at least one fake or I got lucky. Looks like 4 fingers in hand and weight was right. Wheat bushels look alright and no extra berry? any opinions?