Morgan Dollar Gram Weight question

burroughsway

Hello everyone,
I'm wondering what the accepted margin of error would be for a Morgan Dollar's weight. I looked at some nice coins today but was skittish to buy because, despite the nice ringing sound of the coins, one weighed 23.6 grams as opposed to the accepted 26.75 +/-

They didn't look worn down enough to have lost 1/9th of its weight.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Duncan M. Rogers
Freshwater Films, LLC

DieClash

23.6 g sounds a little light for an unworn Morgan. Diameter s/b 38.1 mm

to the forum!

coindeuce

A weight of 23.6 g would indicate a forgery, unless of course it is a genuine Morgan with a gaping drill hole in it!

FredWeinberg

There's a .097 gram tolerance,
(let's call it a 1/10th of a gram),
so yes, the weight of that coin
would be highly suspicious, unless
the coin was on a rolled thin
planchet - possible, but unlikely.

Amigo

I've ran into a Chinese Silver coin that was off by pretty much the same tolerance. It was the right Diameter, and appeared to be Silver. I'm assuming the purity wasn't as high, which would account for a loss in weight. It was a 200k dollar coin if authentic, that was another flag. There were a couple other flags as well. Anyway, anyone interested in a gonga deal for a 200k dollar coin ?

AUandAG

WELCOME to the forum!

Yes, I agree that the coin you saw is a fake. Common weight for a Chinese counterfeit.
Silver over copper core. You were smart in weighing it. Probably looks not crisp and
sharp in the protected areas as well. Rim denticles may be uneven too.

post a pic when you can, if you can.

bob

tahoe98

... to the forums! it's good to know you have your suspicions. very good.

burroughsway

Hi and Thanks everyone. Both for your welcoming wishes and your insights. I am now quite confident that I made the right decision. There were 5 coins in this group that weighed a bit wonky and one was an 1892-S which, were it legit, would have been quite a treat. I emailed the gentleman who is offering up the coins and suggested that, given what MIGHT be in his possession, he get them authenticated.

Guess that won't be the diamond in the rough we always dream of when someone says "oh, you collect coins? I have some from my Father In Law that I'm thinking of selling".

SIGH

ProofArtworkonCircs

Welcome.