Trade dollars on ebay

[pendragon1998]

Am I right to be leery of trade dollars for sale on eBay? I've heard there are a lot of counterfeits out there. Right now I'm just looking and educating myself about them before making a buy.

[Bruceswar]

correct, tons of fakes out there... when buying on ebay, if you don't know whats going on, buy slabbed ones. good luck

[TJ'S Coins]

Amen to the slabbed recommendation, although there were reports a year or so ago about fake slabs that imitated the PCGS holder. Look carefully at the slab as well as the picture. Be careful of any seller from the Far East. Liberty Seated Dollars are another mass counterfeited coin that some try to distribute through Ebay. Look for reputable dealers/sellers and slabbed material that has no obvious misspelled words.

[pendragon1998]

I agree, slabbed would seem to be the safest bet on ebay. If one were looking at raw coins, however, are there any obvious marks that would make a counterfeit stand out in a photo? For example, below is a nice-looking coin from a current auction. Certainly not perfect, but I like it and to my inexperienced eye, it looks real. Is there really any way to tell without the coin in hand?

 

 

 

I searched for "fake trade dollar" and turned up this link:

Dealers detect Trade dollar fakes

 

And just for my own practice, what grade would this be? About an EF-40 or so?

[TJ'S Coins]

The details on this coin appear to be AU. The Obv has good detail. The Rev shows more wear. The fields look clean but one cannot tell from the picture if their are hairlines present under the toning. The lack of luster from the picture would knock it back into an EF. From the link you gave on fake Trade Dollars it would be difficult to discern from the picture if this is counterfeit. The A in AMERICA seems aligned correctly. More experienced Trade Dollar collectors need to weigh in. Should you buy this coin? Is it slabbed? What do they h ave it graded at? Do you know the dealer? Have you purchased coins from him before? Another factor I've seen on fake coins on Ebay is the percent of the elements is reversed. For instance a coin like this might be advertised as 90% Copper and 10% Silver. Those are obvious fakes. Buyer beware.

[paperchaser-migration]

Well, from the pictures:

1. the "S" seems to be okay

2. the arrowhead stops above the "2"

3. the banner ends (on obverse) point down instead of left

 

however, could not tell if the extended hand (right one) has 3 or 4 fingers visible.

On this year issue there would normally be 4 fingers visible.

 

Since you don't have the coin it's not possible to weigh it to check; or to "drop" it and hear the distinctive sound of real silver.

 

Oh, and if it's NOT slabbed -- be very wary . I realize it's not a million dollar coin but it still costs $$$ you probably worked hard to earn.

[SilverGigolo]

Beware of fake slabs too. Buy Trade dollars from a bona-fide store with an authenticity guarantee. People on Ebay are getting them from China and scamming the ebay public.