Nyxator Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 Dear all, I was recently offered to buy a Liberty Head Five Dollars 1881. You can see the pictures attached below. Can you say if it is authentic or not from these pictures and, if it is, the approximate grade? would it be a good specimen to submit for grading? Thank you Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandon Posted May 17, 2023 Share Posted May 17, 2023 Based on your photos, which we would have preferred to be cropped to eliminate the excess white space around the coin, the coin appears to be a genuine example of this very common date "with motto" Liberty Head half eagle (five-dollar gold piece). There is no way to tell for sure that the coin is genuine from photographs. If possible, you should have the coin weighed on a digital scale that goes out two or three decimal points to verify that the coin weighs approximately its official weight of 8.359 grams. As gold coins are frequently counterfeited, and some of the counterfeits made decades ago were made of gold of full legal weight and fineness, it might not be a bad idea to submit it to a grading service solely for purposes of authentication. The coin would likely grade somewhere in the About Uncirculated (AU 50 to 58) grade range, and there is little difference in list prices for this issue and other common dates of this series from 1880 to 1908 in circulated grades and mint state grades below MS 63. At current gold prices, the coin is sought in such grades more for its gold content of 0.24187 oz. than for its numismatic value. If you are interested in buying it as a "type coin" rather than to acquire gold, you might want to look for a MS 62 or better example that has already been authenticated and graded by a reputable third-party grading service. It is my impression that the "Counterfeit Coins" sub-forum is for the posting of topics about coins that have already been determined to be counterfeit or likely counterfeit. You would probably get more attention by posting a topic like this one in the regular "U.S., World, and Ancient Coins" forum or the "Newbie Coin Collecting Questions" forum. Nyxator and Coinbuf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
