US Morgan Dollar (Counterfeit) 1895

US Morgan silver dollars dated 1895 are very rare and very valuable. Typical values (US dollars) run like this:

GENUINE 1895 MORGAN DOLLARS
average circulated: $31000
fully uncirculated: $51000

GENUINE 1895-O MORGAN DOLLARS
average circulated: $350
fully uncirculated: $65000

GENUINE 1895-S MORGAN DOLLARS
average circulated: $750
fully uncirculated: $19000

It is difficult for counterfeiters to make high-quality, fully uncirculated coins. But circulated coins are much easier to fake. The usual approach is to start with an 1895-O dollar, remove the 'O' mint mark, and sell it to an unsophisticated buyer at the bargain price of only $15000. After all, catalog value is $31000, so $15000 is a real steal.

NEVER BUY VALUABLE COINS FROM SOMEONE YOU DO NOT FULLY TRUST.

Requester FredGomez submitted the pictured 1895 Morgan. It is worth zero. In this case the counterfeiters used metal-working tools to modify the '5' in the date. Their work is easily discerned.

The genuine 1895 in the image above comes from Stack's Bowers, and CoinQuest thanks them for use of their coin image.
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