Rare coins

Two Deceptive 1875-CC Trade Dollars: Fun With Fakes

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By Jack Riley …..
The following article discusses two 1875-CC Trade Dollars recently discovered on eBay. Submitted to third-party grading services for certification, one returned from PCGS as “Authenticity Unverifiable” and one from NGC as “Altered Surfaces”. Even in the sale listing, one can tell something is off. After a brief conversation with the seller, I ended up with both examples in hand. Images of how I received them pictured below.

Body bags of the ersatz 1875-CC Trade Dollars. Image: Jack Riley.
Body bags of the ersatz 1875-CC Trade Dollars. Image: Jack Riley.

After inspecting the coins visually, it was clear that these two coins are counterfeit – a good reason why they were sent to two TPGs separately. In the images below, the NGC example is on top and the PCGS example is on the bottom.

Counterfeit 1875-CC Trade Dollar. Not certified by NGC. Image: Jack Riley.
Counterfeit 1875-CC Trade Dollar. Not certified by NGC. Image: Jack Riley.
Counterfeit 1875-CC Trade Dollar. Not certified by PCGS. Image: Jack Riley.
Counterfeit 1875-CC Trade Dollar. Not certified by PCGS. Image: Jack Riley.

Both 1875-CC Trade Dollars have diameters of 37.8 mm and are 2.2 mm thick. Both also passed a sigma test for 90% silver. The NGC example weighed 27.09 grams and the PCGS example weighed 27.01 grams.

Metallurgic tests on fake 1875-CC Trade Dallar.
Image: Jack Riley.

Closer inspection of both coins shows many repeating circulation marks! The placement of the Carson City “CC” mintmark doesn’t attribute to a known 1875 variety using John Coxe’s attribution guide that PCGS uses for Trade Dollars. Both feature matching depression marks below the date and in LIBERTY highlighted in the following images. Both also exhibit “pitting” on the denticles left of the date.

Fake 1875-CC Trade Dollar under magnifiation.
Image: Jack Riley.
Fake 1875-CC Trade Dollar under magnification.
Image: Jack Riley.

More impressive is the reverse, which has many more repeating circulation marks and a prominent slash in the “E” of TRADE. A damaged area in the “9” is also present, and the mintmark is set too far to the right and is not seen on any of the 16 known varieties for this date.

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Fake 1875-CC Trade Dollar under magnification. Image: Jack Riley.
Image: Jack Riley.
Fake 1875-CC Trade Dollar under magnification. Image: Jack Riley.
Image: Jack Riley.

Both fakes show a similar depression mark in the “R” of PLURIBUS as well as a lump connecting “B-U”, in addition to a raised portion to the right of the “I”.

Fake 1875-CC Trade Dollar under magnification. Image: Jack Riley.
Image: Jack Riley.

These are well executed and very deceptive counterfeits, failing only when it comes to attribution. As of now, these are the only two examples of this coin that I’ve seen, but surely more exist and are potentially in the collections of unsuspecting collectors. The saying couldn’t be truer: “Buy the book before the coin.” Many great online resources exist today to aid collectors in their hobby.

Best Regards,

-Jack Riley

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