1798 dollar weights
Wardhaines
Posts: 53 ✭✭
Hello Everyone,
With the stated weight of a 1798 dollar being 26.96 grams, would a recently purchased one weighting 26.6 grams be cause to worry that it may not be real?
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Edited to add that it is in VF+ condition so there goes a little weight.
If you can post a photo it would be helpful.
These are from the auction site and are better than the ones I took.
These are my pictures. I don't know if they will help. The first set are closer to the true color.
is that the bb-103?
can't see a die chip above 9 and the 8 doesn't touch the bust and it has the last row of stars with 2nd star high.
That certainly appears real from the auction pictures. Yours are pretty tough and make me question the shape of the 1 and the 9
I found what I believe is it's die pairing on CoinFacts as I do not have the reference volumes for these. There are struck counterfeits, so that is a possibility. Probably time to get it certified, or for an expert to do an in-hand assessment.
https://pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1798-1-large-eagle/6873
Maybe @CaptHenway or @BillJones can comment, or call in someone else with solid experience
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
Todd - BHNC #242
The weight would be right for the grade. I see nothing in the first set of pictures that would make me doubt its authenticity, but the great difference in the second set of pictures gives me pause.
I have been comparing the two sets of pictures, and it seems to the same coin. The first set of pictures appear to be of a genuine coin. I would not have bid or bought the coin based on those pictures because of the “251” label covered part of the obverse. Who knows what they might have been hiding under that label? Also what’s so hard about taking pictures outside the flip?
I would not buy a coin like this that is not certified by a reputable company. There are now too many counterfeits in numismatic circulation.
@Wardhaines
if you are not confident enough to authenticate coins of this magnitude, you have to compensate with other strategies. having a professional consult available to you in-person. bearing the brunt of express submission service at pcgs and sending items like this out right away so you get them back within a reasonable return period if it turns out not to be authentic.
we could certainly help you more here but better pics are simply needed in this day and age. what kind of camera are you using? if you are spending thousands of dollars on a single coin, getting even a decent camera phone simply for picture taking is a must. even just an iphone 6 or 7 would be sufficient, with a little practice of course.
i would ask for an edge pic but i'm not sure your images wouldnt really help too much.
others advice about not buying coins at this level raw without the proper experience is excellent because you will get nailed eventually as the quality of fakes is coming up and we've seen here many that even the professionals have missed causing us all to up our level of knowledge/solutions.
i'm not sure how much knowledge you have but will say that even if you match up the diagnostics perfectly to a known marriage, that guarantees nothing as the coin can simply be one from transfer dies of an authentic bust dollar but is a good method to eliminate marriages that are not known and usually counterfeit because of it.
i have a soft place for bust dollars so i'll help you out much as i can but if we can't give you a definitive answer, don't let this sit around either get the coin out pronto to pcgs or to a knowledgeable numismatist near you and it is worth driving a good distance for someone that knows what they are doing.
here are enlarged images that are linked for anyone wanting to chime in. i'll do a little more leg work on it just because it is nice to stay in practice but i've gotta get some other things done so i can focus.
The pictures I took were using a Celestron Digital Microscope hooked up to my computer. I have never been happy with the pictures I have taken of coins. The lighting is too bright and washes out the coin so doesn't give a good representation of the color. I want to make a better lighting system with more diffused lighting.
The auction pictures are definitely the coin I received.
From the comments it seem that people are leaning toward real. Whew.
I was hoping for a general consensus. If there was more of a thought that it was a fake then I would have tried returning it but now it is going to go out to PCGS for grading.
Everyone is correct about buying this level of coin without experience can be a gamble. Before bidding, I did compare the auction pictures to as many Heritage auction pictures I could find before bidding so in my extremely novice opinion, I was somewhat confident it was real.
This is up there with the most I've paid for a coin so the anxiety was high but I really wanted one of these.
The coin was labeled as XF+ but I thought VF+.
What are your thoughts. I got a decent deal for a VF and a great deal if it does go XF.