Morgan Silver Dollar Fake!

Rare or "Key Date" Morgan Silver Dollars have a higher likelihood of being fake because their collector value can be many times what it costs to produce an authentic looking coin that may even be made of silver alloy. Some counterfeits may be made of ferrous metal and so placing the coin against a strong magnet will immediately identify the coin as a fake. However, counterfeits made of non-ferrous metal will pass this most basic test of authenticity. So how do you know if a coin is counterfeit when it's been produced out of non-ferrous metals? One method is to weigh the coin using a precise digital scale as I've done in this video. Another easy test is to hold the coin with Lady Liberty's head right side up, your index finger and thumb placed at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position respectively. Then spin the coin from obverse to reverse keeping these fingers in place. The coin's reverse should now appear upside down with the eagle's head at 6 o'clock. If the orientation is off, the coin is a fake.

[@celticangel1424]

This one was hard to spot for me. I recently traded two 1921 Peace coins and one 1888 Morgan Dollar from my job. This guy comes in and pays for something and I said bingo. I am knew at collecting so I could not spot these fakes. I took them to a good dealer and immediately they saw that they were counterfeit. They did the magnet test. They are from China and for your info, ebay are selling a lot of these coins from China so beware. I was so disappointed. I am only out of 3 dollars for what I traded them for, but the dealer told me that people are buying binders of coins and are out of 100's and 100's of dollars. Thanks for the video. I am becoming more alert on how to spot fakes.

[@markthorpe7949]

ALI EXPRESS

[@rizwandody6931]

Hii..Rizvan

[@numismaticstacker]

i learned something from this thank you. I noticed there are no bag marks on the fake one also. For the amount of wear is shows it should have scratches in the fields and devices of the surface.

[@Patriotic2508]

I have 2 coins one was minted in 1851 and one is on 1854. I want to sell them

[@preparedsurvivalist2245]

If it's a CC, in high grade condition, unslabbed, AND you got it for a great price on ebay...then you can be certain it is fake. The fact that the weight is off and the patina seems odd is just further confirmation of the forgery.

[@LFSPharaoh]

You can tell there's a noticeably weaker strike on the reverse of the fake in the inner sides on the feathers

[@robertoperezcatalan3043]

Q bonitos dólares amigo buen trabajo bonito vídeo gracias por compartir un abrazo buenas noches 👏👏👌👍👏

[@bsd9230]

I dunno is the weight test really a good barometer of a test?? These Morgan's are over 100 years old they didn't have such precision equipment back then nor such a meticulous tolerance for error? Just wondering. Not saying that it's not fake just saying though. Opinions? Very educational video. Knowledeable.

[@onedollasnake]

Weight varies little my f10 Morgan weighs 26.6 grams only .1 gram lighter because it’s worn if it’s not like Ag 3 or lower and weighing 25 grams it’s fake for sure

[@jmy7622]

I like the red book as a starter and like the video ,it shows you some tools to get to buy raw coins.Also NEVER CLEAN YOUR COINS!

[@HHH100]

Coins are not cast. They are struck. From blanks or planchets as they are known. The fakes are cast. This is why they are rough and not drawn out by a die press.

[@prslincoln]

Thanks for posting this! Just bought an 1885 no-mint mark Morgan Dollar that had been encased in an acrylic ball as a paper weight. I removed it as carefully as possible and was curious as to whether or not it was real... threw in on the scale and it weighs. Going to acid test to confirm but this vid was very helpful!

[@prslincoln]

Thanks for the heads up, Josh!

[@lancenewman1978]

***** if you really want to learn about counterfeit detection, come to the pcgs coin forum called collector's universe. we discuss them there often.

[@ajs4287]

Yep, not enough wear to be that light. A nasty grey color, too.

[@Michael-Philip]

Some fakes are made of 90% silver and you're paying for numismatic value. A coin valued at $300. for its date could be fake and weigh 26.73 grams but worth no more than spot price. NGC holders are also countrfeited. This is why I now buy only common dates.

[@MrRecordbuyer]

Authentic Morgan Silver Dollars are quite consistent in weight. The biggest variable in weight should be due to wear. This CC weighed in very low without much wear on the hair (obverse) and the eagle (reverse) due to this fact alone I would conclude it's a counterfeit. The surface is off as you stated. There are many Silver Dollar fakes out there of key AND common dates. Please let us know if you got a refund on the purchase. Someone brought a coin into our auction house to sell last week. The coveted 1914-D Lincoln Cent. After close examination it turned out to be a 1944-D that someone had altered.

[@acousticshadow4032]

The patina is the key on this 1890-cc fake. I recently purchased an 1883-cc Morgan that only weighs 26.07, but it's well worn (about VG 8), and is otherwise fine. I believe it's authentic.

[@BriceCoinsAndRelics]

Wow, bummer. Good thing you had a scale to weigh it. I could see how easily someone could get screwed. Thanks for sharing, subbed you!

[@markthorpe7949]

BTW Morgans are the most counterfeited. Some counterfeits may be old! Some may be lesser amounts of silver or Antimony.

[@onedollasnake]

Some are 90% silver fakes that’s why it’s extemtly important that even if they check out compare them side by side close up to a real one

[@Mike75065]

Wow, bummer. Good thing you had a scale to weigh it. I could see how easily someone could get screwed

[@vigramm]

Thanks! I just found one "cc" 24 grams and magnet just falling down, not sliding on a surface. Looks like too much aluminum in it.. It came from a friend of mine who is not aware of fakes. Interesting how much he paid for it.

[@hugostiglitz4215]

Magnets do not make any difference whatsoever because other metals are non-magnetic, the only test is using a stigma Analytics silver and gold Detector.

[@jasoncampbell9497]

you can go by how much it is on the scale because i have coins that go back to the early 1800s and none of them are the same on a scale. back then there was no such thing a pure silver or gold so please keep that in mind

[@allandinegar4893]

I purchased an 1893-S on eBay several years back which came in the same kind of holder, and it had the same kind of Patina-almost grey. It also had a very similar amount of wear, and weighed slightly over 25 grams. The seller was actually from China, although he had an account set up that did not reveal he was actually from China! Obviously, one has to be very careful what they purchase on eBay and other similar sites!

[@allandinegar4893]

Correction on the date, it wasn’t an 1893-S it’s an 1893-CC.

[@geraldpattonsr662]

I scaled the morgans 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1889 all scaled at 28 grams.put them on the magnet and none of them stuck to it not sure if these are fake or not

[@NgDickie]

Yup,, u are right,, if u look at it close enough the fake one does looks weird!!

[@jeffw1267]

Fakes often have that black goop painted around the edge. Also, why does the coin show NO circulation marks? That coin is clearly fake even without having to weigh it.

[@charleskeefer3043]

Caught lady but glass trader, from trail silver cork , gave union and why west Vernon came in the cupboard days of cold Kate.

[@mikesanchez8945]

It does have a copper core You cam buy them on ap called wish for 2.00 dollars

[@shadoaksss]

Hmm. Maybe I will. Perhaps something on amateur grading? I don't exactly have a vast collection.. I'm actually just rebuilding from my long-time collection that was stolen a couple years back. Initially I just made this video to keep as evidence that the coin I'll be returning to the seller was in fact counterfeit in case I had any problems getting my money back. Then I thought, might as well post the video on KZbin.

[@TMS-pj7fp]

the surface looks little bit more gritty the real one

[@mirnaguti]

This video was extremely helpfull.

[@triciamaemagat1072]

Mirna Gutie P T

[@cypruscoincollins]

Www.cypruscoincolins.tr.gg

[@MarkedMoneyTech]

Very insightful. Thanks for sharing?

[@jmy7622]

Also if you are selling to a dealer many try to low ball the price from you , such as all ms coins are BU or ms 60 when they may be worth many times that.

[@lvlover58]

of course the weight would be under too... not only did they sell you a bogus piece of history but they even short you on the metal. Some people in this world, God help them.

[@10MinutestoRouletteFortune]

I'm stumped. I bought 10 known and advertised 1988 fakes as gag gifts. Problem is, the finish is perfect, with scratches, does not attract a magnet, they all weigh 27.72 or so OZ, font is correct and all the tell tale signs of them being "fake" simply aren't there at all. They even sound like a Morgan when dropped on a table. I don't know what to think about these at all! Could they all be real and people in Thailand just thought they were fake????? Hmmm

[@robertsilkycampbell9683]

Another "tell" is to measure them. Then go to coinflation.com for accuracy sizes.

[@dmfaria83]

I imagine that The precision of coining 100+ years ago is lower than today's. What's an acceptable difference in weight in silver coins from 1890? What about from 1790?

[@TheGroovyJones]

Zero. The value of the coins came from the amount of gold or silver in them, so they had to be exact. Can't be under or people won't take it, can't be over or the coin is worth more than face value. The technology for milled coins (this kind) to make every coin uniform existed since the 1560s, was the standard before 1700. On top of that it was a job in the US in the 1800s to weigh the planchets before they were struck, rejecting underweight and filing off dust from overweight to get the weight of metal in every planchet exactly matching the face value of the coin. To judge weight loss from wear you just need a pile of examples in the same condition, but that will still be closer to .3g, not 1.6g.

[@UCMineralsGroupwucmgcL]

A coin from 1886 with a CC mint, would be false or there are some with a CC mint

[@timholmes4331]

With price of silver down will they MAKE rare coins out of 90% silver and how will we do NDT to prove it is fake ??

[@silvercoins]

Тоже прикуплю весы,слишком много потделок моргана в последнее время.

[@Manuprince]

What about the measurements (diameter, thickness)? Were they correct when compared to the real coin?

[@manoelramon8283]

I really have a question about this fake coins and I hope some one can answer this. All coins, silver coin, gold and even cooper coin has a premium price over the regular metal weight. If they are able to create a "perfect die" and using the real material (gold or silver), are you guys still able to detect the counterfeit ? They can create fake coins only to get the premiums.

[@cairnzy333]

Manoel Ramon "perfect dies" are not easy to create nor are they easy to reverse engineer. The original dies are either kept heavily gaurded under lock and key( and are still useless without their counter part) or are destroyed after production ceases.

[@mikeshobbiesandrandomstuff]

the fact that a cc mint mark is very rare would have stopped me in the first place from buying it.

[@elkomom6860]

I've acquired two different Morgans today. One is an 1878 with what appears to be really deep detail the fourth star looks very...odd?. The cuts are darker on the entire coin.. The other is an 1879 that looks about normal. They both weigh. Is there anyway to find a value on said coins?

[@shadoaksss]

I hear ya .... actually dimes are my favorite to collect in the first place and was thinking I might focus to dimes... YOU READ MY MIND. Ha!

[@marvinthiessen3454]

Sounds like one would be better off going to their local coin store than buying a fake from E-Bay.

[@ХаритонАлёшин]

дизайн индейца очень удачный, такую бы монету себе в коллекцию

[@Texassince1836]

Why return it when you can give it to the secret service and have them investigate it as a counterfeit? The Morgan dollar is still legal tender and is therefore punishable by all the same laws as printing a $20 bill on your Xerox

[@LadyDiuto]

this video was very helpful. I think the two coins i purchase are fake.1921 and 1885 Morgan Silver Dollar Coins

[@skipstalforce]

The edge looks all wrong too, to thick and blocky looking

[@riotgirl4227]

The fake one had a cc on the back for cason city. I noticed your real one had no makers to indicate what mint made it. Is this normal? I have a 1921 Morgan that im suspicious of, mainly because there is no mint mark.

[@abandonedmoose9832]

Riot Girl If an authentic Morgan dollar has no mint mark, that means it was minted in Philadelphia

[@russelladkins6017]

No mint mark means its made in Philadelphia

[@ehl-jhayjenny5201]

I have 1898 Morgan dollar. How can I sell my Morgan dollar coin.

[@CoinHuntingDrew]

What kind of scale is that? Exact name?

[@dalzcoins7528]

Wow nice coins and video ❤❤🙏🙏

[@davidvivsik6576]

3:24 Also, are the corners supposed to be that pointy?

[@Revealthefactsbpsolanki3456]

Like the theory for right one👍

[@lanier1822]

Hey Brother good looking out any type of help I can get finding out what to look for on counterfits I appreciate, I hate counterfeits as ideal ND bullion market and buy a lot of silver coins.

[@israelgeddes604]

Thank you great video

[@DougCameraMan]

1.6 grams does sound suspicious as the wear doesn't appear to account for that kind of weight loss. But I'm wondering if such a small difference as that, or at least most of it, could be accounted for by the coins being made at different mints. I think the one you claim is real does look more like silver but then again I'm no expert. I would have thought the fake one was real for all I know.

[@TheGroovyJones]

Decades before the 1890s they had machinery that could assay metal and make uniform planchets to strike coins from. Remember the amount of metal in the coins is what gave them their value so it had to be *exact*. The quality of strike could vary by mint, New Orleans is a little notorious for weaker strikes, but the 90%/10% silver to copper ratio and size (and from that the weight) they had down pat. What's even harder to detect is when they add CC to a genuine Philadelphia mint coin to charge the CC premium, and you have to detect it's OVER weight. 5 years late but I hope you still enjoy this stuff.

[@YourAnjl]

Thanks for the video. I hope the seller was stupid rather than devious.

[@elsliceomafia2852]

how much would a 1885 Morgan dollar n a 1879 morgan dollar worth

[@wangdang2220]

The cc was an instant giveaway...dont need a scope to see that

[@geraldpattonsr662]

I have a 1881 morgan i weigh it on the gram scale it showed 27 grams then i weigh a 1886 morgan it weigh at 28 grams.i put the 1886 morgan on a powerful magnet it didnt stick to it. Not sure if the 1886 is fake or not

[@onedollasnake]

Ping it next to a real Morgan if you have one

[@seniorfrog7391]

First Morgan dollars were struck NOT cast but the CC dollar you showed is cast !! You can see several round air holes on the front and back of the coin !! At 2:40 in the hair below the B in liberty you can see a small round hole also on the cheek , this will not not be seen in a struck coin !! Also on the back at 3:30 in the olive branch on the right the third leaf group down is another hole !! Also as pointed out the overall look of the coin is wrong !! The face looks like a fine sand texture NOT found on a struck coin !! Also if you look at the balls near the rim between the balls near the ONE are small balls between the normal ones which would NOT be on a struck coin !! Also the stars after 1890 are NOT right they are blurred and ill defined !!

[@kef103]

It doesn't look real .

[@ysktjrdy8610]

I have a 1889 cc morgan silver dollar. After watching some videos I did the test and it stays stuck to the magnet. I assume it's fake

[@markthorpe7949]

You have no Idea what is coming out of china into the west now. $60 can buy any date 90% EXACT SILVER Morgan dollar from Ali Express. $90 -$100 and Exact PCGS coin with a stolen numberThey Combine Tungsten with Gold foil plating. for for exact weght gold bars and coins. BTW most are brass with silver plate--non magnectics

[@kef103]

The wear looks simulated

[@deanhansen8496]

Kef103 so! You’re saying that 26.74 is no good? I don’ t agree!

[@sittiesofiacauntongan3623]

sir...i have 1896 how much you buy

[@keithhooper2920]

Have a 1886 UNC Morgan. No mint mark, just wanted to know the value?

[@TheGroovyJones]

If it's REALLY uncirculated and genuine, $50-200ish depending on the exact grade. There is a 1-70 grading scale where 60 and up are uncirculated, the price difference between MS-60 and MS-64 can be tremendous if there just aren't many known examples in the slightly higher grade. No mint mark means Philadelphia mint or 1886-P.

[@vasilebalica1457]

I have Morgan silver 1796,1882,i want to sell,wehre?

[@chussabater2423]

TENGO UN DOLAR DE PLATA DE 1922 CUANTO VALOR TIENE

[@woodiewood8982]

i have one of them how do u tell if if real or not

[@danielbrowniel]

I doubt anyone would fake a morgan dollar when they could be faking a draped bust dollar..

[@leesanders6490]

+Daniel Brown I have seen fake State quarters from China. They're faking everything.

[@MolonLabe1000]

Daniel Brown i got a fake '64 Washington "silver" quarter. pancake fake made from steel. correct date, too.

[@abusteve5699]

What the price of orginal Morgan

[@bRadicalmagic1]

Acid test it and get ON ! ! !

[@skiboyscuba]

Thank u

[@TheRetiredVeteran]

I could tell it was fake before you even weighed it. I have only been buying coins for about twenty years.

[@phalanx66Satan]

It's the wear on the coin, you lost weight, it is a real coin. The one he is calling "authentic" looks more like a fake to me.

[@robbiesharp311]

Why in the world would anyone take the time to make a fake dollar?

[@helloqtip21]

The Ping test would have been a much easier test..

[@narendragedam1948]

1

[@salehsheekh1296]

عندي،دولارعدني وعندي نص دولاروعندي سنت

[@everettwhite9874]

A ping test is ok to use if your have good hearing but, suppose you don’t hear very good? They’re other tests to try as well to give you more confidence in determining whether a coin is authentic, at least to your own satisfaction.

[@vasilebalica1457]

And bulion,1964,1974,1982

[@lionofbabylon3571]

I have one dollar 1804 and 1803

[@funnylooking8218]

I have one I just put it on a scale 26 grams even

[@Sajidshaikh-fx7ly]

मेरे पास ऐसे सिक्के हैं मुझे शेयर करना है आप मुझसे कांटेक्ट कीजिए

[@Maria-ll6oh]

I have 1 from 1883.I want to sell

[@angelportal5378]

i think it's not fake

[@VisualAssault2011]

A Morgan dollar can easily lose more than one gram of weight in it's lifetime... patina can easily be removed/reduced by cleaning, which if you've been paying attention, there are quite a few videos on YT of how to clean coins... sorry, but I don't believe this tale as he never mentioned the Ebay seller, nor contacting the police. Seems to be just another attempt at garnering views on his YT channel.

[@robfassi3297]

not true you can't make a coin weigh less by cleaning it

[@leesanders6490]

+VisualAssault2011 Weigh a Morgan of the same date that grades Good and you won't see anywhere near the difference in weight that you see here if any. . Besides, the counterfeit clearly has a grainy surface indicative of cast coins and tokens. Contacting the Police will only get your coin taken away when a refund can be expected from a seller who now knows they didn;t get away with selling a fake coin to a knowledgeable collector.

[@allandinegar4893]

I too, purchased a similar Morgan with almost all the issues he pointed up applying exactly to the one I bought on eBay! I’m not knocking eBay overall, I’m just saying be very careful when you purchase a raw coin! Why would you think the individual doing this video would be playing games?!

[@marvinthiessen3454]

@@leesanders6490 Good luck on a refund. He'll probably just get a bad review on his site, enough of those and E-Bay will drop him.

[@leesanders6490]

Marvin Thiessen You're probably right.

[@AlmostCirculated1]

I hope you are now sticking away from eBay... I spot fakes on there all the time.

[@lancenewman1978]

the goal isn't to stay away, the goal is to educate one's self on counterfeit detection. it really doesn't take much training to avoid the majority of them. plus with paypal's protection, buying on ebay is safer than ever. at least i buy/sell there all the time anyway.

[@AlmostCirculated1]

lancenewman1978 As time goes on the counterfeiters will improve their methods making detection much harder.... You should watch my videos on eBay and silver... I reported a seller multiple times for selling fake pandas and morgans.... eBay failed to take action.... Depending on eBay, is like trying to depend on a politician.

[@lancenewman1978]

AlmostCirculated i agree. things will get more difficult but the cost and expertise required will keep the process slow which is why we don't see better ones now. the scary part is the counterfeit holders with authentic coins that list too high of a grade for the coin. haven't seen too many of those thankfully. i'm also well aware of the ebay problem and reporting. reporting counterfeits just took a major hit on ebay so things may get bad for a while not to mention websites selling fakes by the tens of thousands from overseas w/o the word "copy" on them. just lovely. i saw a link recently to buy empty fake pcgs slabs too. that was brutal to see. i agree about depending on ebay. i'm sure they've done a lot but unfortunately it isn't enough. so much fraud takes place in their back yard it is ridiculous and not just in the coin categories. i've managed to build to my counterfeit image database because of ebay listings though. thousands of images of fakes i've acquired. still can't figure out if it is a good thing or not. lol

[@MolonLabe1000]

Clearly been cleaned...probably why it weighs a gram less.

[@davidlester5716]

MINE IS A 1804 MORGAN SILVER DOLLAR

[@bagindaali2940]

I have one liverty selver 1799 and 1967..1900

[@sandrasmlth2505]

Lady head dime

[@harmeetsingh2546]

Sword coin please

[@jorgeluizsernaglialoubolou5855]

Tenho uma moeda de um dólar de 1921quero negociar só falo português

[@عباس-ر5ك4ن]

I have psychology

[@Sajidshaikh-fx7ly]

मेरे पास ऐसे सिक्के पड़े हैं और मुझे सेल करना है

[@ramonbriones2998]

tengo monedas antiguas 1878 morgan cc fine

[@Sajidshaikh-fx7ly]

Mere paas se sikhe hai mujhe sale karna hai

[@videosuperhighway7655]

Lol damn it looks so fake. I wonder how many people own fake coins and never really know it.

[@albertocasanueva2492]

tengo 6 Morgan que deseo vender entre ellas una de 1901 letra O por y de Kennedy 1966 y1967 ,y una de Kennedy y el hermano

[@ricatdodorantes2324]

I love it u comment of this dollar coin .question how I can send u a video one coin 1889 dollar .bcuz I have one ..I want to see is real one. If is I want to make deal with u.

[@Sajidshaikh-fx7ly]

मेरे पास ऐसे सिक्के हैं और मुझे सेल करना है

[@ماهرالرياطي]

عندي عمله نفسه فضه 1886

[@lucianodias5680]

Boa tarde eu tenho uma moeda