The Ultimate Guide on How to Identify a Genuine Silver Dollar

Because of the intrinsic value that they hold, counterfeiters tend to produce and sell silver coins that are replicas or counterfeits. They do so because many coin collectors and coin investors are willing to pay top dollar for silver coins. At present, the U.S. Mint no longer uses silver in production of coins for general circulation. This makes silver dollars a lucrative and popular investment among coin collectors and investors. If you are planning to purchase silver dollars, it’s important to be able to differentiate between genuine silver dollars and fake ones in order to avoid wasting your hard-earned cash, time and effort. Here’s how to do that:

Examine the date on the coin. If the date on the coin is 1804, chances are you have a fake coin in your hands. Not many silver coins were minted in the U.S. in this year and the ones created were used as diplomatic gifts. You’d have to be extremely fortuitous to be able to come across an 1804 silver dollar by chance.

Familiarize yourself with the look and feel of real silver dollars. In order to be able to identify fake silver dollars, you need to become 100 percent familiar with genuine ones. If you can’t get access to real silver dollars, study images of them in coin guidebooks or from resources online. Study them in depth so that when you are faced with a fake silver dollar, you will be able to immediately identify when any details are out of place.

Weigh the coin. Silver is much heavier than copper and nickel. This means that real silver dollar coins are heavier than coins that are presently being circulated. However, fake silver dollar coins may be heavier than authentic ones, as heavier metals, such as steel are oftentimes used in their production.

Study the sheen of the coin. Real silver dollar coins have an appearance and shine about them that counterfeit silver dollars simply can’t replicate. This is due to the metal composition that is used to produce fake silver dollars.

There are many coin dealers, coin collectors, and coin investors in the industry that sell silver coins. The vast majority of them are reputable dealers, but unfortunately some less than reputable coin dealers exist, so it’s important that you take precautions to protect yourself.

In summary, to identify genuine silver dollars, examine the date on the coin. Next, familiarize yourself with the look and feel of real silver dollars. This will allow you to spot discrepancies or anomalies immediately. Weigh the coin in question and lastly, study its sheen. Conducting business with reputable coin dealers will provide you with the greatest chance for success. Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers