1888 Morgan Dollar

[CySterling]

Hi all, 

I recently picked this up at an antique store here in Cyprus.

The owner was asking €45 for it, which I thought was a bit much but as its not something we get a lot of here, I bought it (he did give me a discount on some other coins so I figured that offset the price a little) 

Having now done some basic research (googled it) it looks like this particular Morgan is worth a little bit more than I paid for it! 

Does anyone know more that can advise / grade /value... 

It's an 1888 with an S mint mark

 

Thanks 

[dicker]

Hi

This is one of the low mintage Morgan year / Mint mark combinations (647k).

If it were genuine, it would be worth a reasonable amount of money. 

But I think it is not genuine.

Best

Dicker

[CySterling]

2 minutes ago, dicker said:

Hi

This is one of the low mintage Morgan year / Mint mark combinations (647k).

If it were genuine, it would be worth a reasonable amount of money. 

But I think it is not genuine.

Best

Dicker

Hi,

Thanks for that.

That's what I've discovered as well and if I'm being honest that's also my concern. 

How can I check to be sure? 

 

[dicker]

Hi

The usual checks on weight, size, etc

However I am pretty confident this is not genuine from the photos posted.

Key areas of detail that look significantly off including the detail of some of the letters despite it being a worn coin.

There are sadly many many like this out there and the first warning sign is the less common varieties turning up in non-numismatic settings like antique fairs, eBay and antique shops.  
 

Best

Dicker

[CySterling]

3 minutes ago, dicker said:

Hi

The usual checks on weight, size, etc

However I am pretty confident this is not genuine from the photos posted.

Key areas of detail that look significantly off including the detail of some of the letters despite it being a worn coin.

There are sadly many many like this out there and the first warning sign is the less common varieties turning up in non-numismatic settings like antique fairs, eBay and antique shops.  
 

Best

Dicker

 

That's a bummer... But kind of expected 

Thanks again for the advice 

I'll check it over

Best regards 

Stellios 

[CySterling]

23 hours ago, dicker said:

Hi

The usual checks on weight, size, etc

However I am pretty confident this is not genuine from the photos posted.

Key areas of detail that look significantly off including the detail of some of the letters despite it being a worn coin.

There are sadly many many like this out there and the first warning sign is the less common varieties turning up in non-numismatic settings like antique fairs, eBay and antique shops.  
 

Best

Dicker

Well, Dicker, I'm guessing that's not supposed to happen... 🤦🏽‍♂️

Having now checked it, every value is off... Weight, diameter, thickness 

Lesson learned 

Now, I'm off to have an interesting conversation with an antique shop owner

Wish me luck

😊

[dicker]

Best of luck!

[Junior]

Might be too little too late to help you now, but for future reference. Format is large, so not advisable to view on a phone screen.

[Junior]

Also…

Fake Morgan is first, real Morgan is second.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Junior

[CySterling]

Thanks for the advice and the education

Went back and spoke to the owner... He was surprised to learn it was fake and was really nice about it

Offered me my money back without a fuss but I remembered he had another one

Weighed, measured and magnet tested it, it checked out so I took that one instead 👍🏽