Fake Morgan Dollars are becoming epidemic!!!

[yellowsnow]

in case you didn't carry an digital scale or magnet, i suggest the long traditional bite test?
use teeth to scrap of plating too

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index....-their-medals/

moh hardness
gold, silver: 2.5
copper: 3
molybdenum: 5.5

[Jreb79]

I am heading to my LCS to pick up a couple of things tomorrow and I'm going to take them to see what they say about them. If I can get some decent pics....I'll post them up so ya'll can see what I mean about the different color on the one Morgan.

Thanks, Jim

I jumped over to your profile page and see that your fairly new here and only have made a couple post (same as I). But I would suspect you are fairly new to PM's. I apologize if I am wrong. Please be wary of your LCS dealers until you find a few you can trust. There a plenty around here that prey on newbies. I am fortunate enough to have an experienced father that I can get help from. My first few times at new places, they saw me coming from far away and made less than fair offers. My advice to you would be to stay calm and reassess who you can trust. Ask there first. Maybe you have a family member or trustworthy friend who are PM bugs. Learn all you can from them and ask for advice. They should refer you somewhere that's honest.

Again if I misjudged you, I apologize. I am also learning and only trying to help out.

[Silken]

The ring test is crucial since these new molybdenum planchet silver plated coins will past the weight and dimension test - but not the ring test.

Simply balance the coin on the tip of one finger and strike the edge sharply with another coin - real silver will produce a long sustained high pitch ring, very clear and not varied in pitch. The ring will last several seconds. If it just thuds or clunks and does not sustain, then it's not silver.

great advice on the ring test.,.,had never tried it before and man does it sing pretty..

[MauserMan]

A million curses on those Chinamen and the people who counterfeit gold and silver. I'm mad because the Chinese have the gall to counterfeit everything. Have they no shame, no sense of pride in craftsmanship? I hope they get everything they deserve.

[kissfan79]

Ok....so I took the 3 Morgans to my LCS. After examination, doing a ring test, etc....the owner was positive they were all real. The one in particular I was worried about he said definitely looked like it had been not only cleaned but polished which is why, he said, it had a darker tone to the silver. I took some pics today and I'll get them posted in the morning. I asked him about the fact that the numbers in the date were a tad smaller than the other two Morgans and he said that it was due to the fact that it was made at a different mint. It was minted in San Francisco and the other 2 weren't. I asked him again if he was confident that it was real and he said yes and that he wouldn't have an issue buying it. I'd be curious to hear ya'll's thoughts on it once I get the pics up.

Jim

[3doors_down]

Ok....so I took the 3 Morgans to my LCS. After examination, doing a ring test, etc....the owner was positive they were all real. The one in particular I was worried about he said definitely looked like it had been not only cleaned but polished which is why, he said, it had a darker tone to the silver. I took some pics today and I'll get them posted in the morning. I asked him about the fact that the numbers in the date were a tad smaller than the other two Morgans and he said that it was due to the fact that it was made at a different mint. It was minted in San Francisco and the other 2 weren't. I asked him again if he was confident that it was real and he said yes and that he wouldn't have an issue buying it. I'd be curious to hear ya'll's thoughts on it once I get the pics up.

Jim

Did his scale agree with yours, and what did he say about them being heavy?

[kissfan79]

I jumped over to your profile page and see that your fairly new here and only have made a couple post (same as I). But I would suspect you are fairly new to PM's. I apologize if I am wrong. Please be wary of your LCS dealers until you find a few you can trust. There a plenty around here that prey on newbies. I am fortunate enough to have an experienced father that I can get help from. My first few times at new places, they saw me coming from far away and made less than fair offers. My advice to you would be to stay calm and reassess who you can trust. Ask there first. Maybe you have a family member or trustworthy friend who are PM bugs. Learn all you can from them and ask for advice. They should refer you somewhere that's honest.

Again if I misjudged you, I apologize. I am also learning and only trying to help out.

Hello....no worries. I have only posted a couple of times here on the forums but I have been reading for a while. I am certainly not a veteran stacker but I did start stacking early this year. The coin shop I deal with seems to be a decent one. I actually started my relationship with them before I started buying silver. I had sold them some jewelry I no longer wanted and then I started going to them when I started buying precious metals. They have been really helpful. I have bought silver and even an ounce of gold from them thus far. I feel very comfortable going to them. I have actually referred them to my folks who have sold some stuff to them and they have gotten decent offers from what they said. I appreciate you trying to look out for me though....certainly no offense taken. We can all afford to have folks looking out for each other in this day and age.

Jim

[kissfan79]

Did his scale agree with yours, and what did he say about them being heavy?

He didn't actually weigh them...he went on the weights I gave him. Before we started talking about the Morgans I asked if he had a calibration weight I could put on my scale (I brought it with me) to verify that my scale was calibrated. he put a 1 oz troy calibration weight on it and my scale read 1.002 troy ounces so I was happy with that. As far as the weights....I didn't think that 26.73 and 26.75 grams were too out of line with what they should be. The only weight I was concerned about was the 1879 that weighed 26.48 grams. When I asked him about it he said it was because it had some wear on it (it is the most worn of the 3).

Jim

EDIT-In my original reply I had put that 3doors_down had some Morgans that were heavier than the ones I had and then I realized that was you so deleted that sentence. LOL

[kissfan79]

The ring test is crucial since these new molybdenum planchet silver plated coins will past the weight and dimension test - but not the ring test.

Simply balance the coin on the tip of one finger and strike the edge sharply with another coin - real silver will produce a long sustained high pitch ring, very clear and not varied in pitch. The ring will last several seconds. If it just thuds or clunks and does not sustain, then it's not silver.

What does a molybdenum planchet silver plated coin sound like when given the ring test? Will it thud or clank? The reason I ask is that I have several coins that have no silver but will ring very nicely when struck with another coin. Even 2 of the copper clad Kennedy half dollars will ring when I tap them together (although maybe not quite as long as a silver coin). When doing the ring test is it the fact that it rings nice and long or is more the actual tone it puts out you are looking for?

Thanks, Jim

[kissfan79]

I am confused- your post last night stated your coins weighed "The three Morgans I have weighed in at 27.48, 27.73, and 27.75." (a gram heavy)

My fault on that....that was supposed to be 26.48, 26.73, and 26.75. Typo on my part.