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Coin and Paper Money Collecting/Confederate States of Am 1981 Coin

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Expert: - 10/27/2008


Question

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I have some old coins and am slowing going through them to identify them and check their values.  I have this one Confederate 1861 coin and am not sure if it is real.  Ihave attached a couple pictures of it.  Any help is appreciated.

Answer

Hello Terri,                      

This is likely a copy of the Confederate Half Dollar coin. Not all copies were marked as such. There were many made over the years and the Hobby Protection act law was not written until the 1970’s.

I need to know what is on the front of the piece as well.

The one picture I did get through this site was not that sharp and all the features look soft.
Off hand this looks like a cast piece taken from the re-strike design. The color is wrong for an original as well although it might have been poorly cleaned.

There were so few made that they are still replicas as souvenirs as well as token pieces made for clubs and such. Many are called fantasy pieces and sold as a novelty
And some unscrupulous people are modifying them to look more like an unknown original to sell to coin collectors.
Most likely this is a token or reproduction piece. There were only 4 silver originals and 500 re-strikes made.

You can look for cracks and pitting on the copies.

The Item would have to be seen to be accurately appraised. Photographs do not really help with this.

If you write back with your general location like the nearest large cities,  some local telephone area codes and some Postal Zip codes in your area, I can direct you to an AMERICAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION MEMBER/DEALER near there. They are ethical and trustworthy.

Also there is help at most large coin shows. There are representatives from the grading services. ANACS service even some smaller shows. They give free consultations on coins at their table. If you need to find a show or an error coin authenticator in your area just write me again.

I hope this information Helps.

Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack  
    Questioner's Rating
    Rating(1-10)Knowledgeability = 10Clarity of Response = 10Politeness = 10
    CommentThanks....great info. I did finally catch the R on the one side.


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PAPAJACK

Expertise

Knowledge of United States Coins from 1793 to date. Able to answer most common numismatic questions. Collected U.S. Coins from half cent to 50 dollar gold coins.

Experience

QUALITY CONTROL
United States Coin COLLECTOR/DEALER OVER 20 YEARS, U.S. COINS Worked trade shows,
EXPERT Consulting since 1990, Knowledge of all methods of fabrication used in the industry.
Hobbies:US notes, clocks, cars, computers, coins, leisure activity and crafts to name a few.

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