Knowing what not to buy is as important as knowing what to buy in the world of coins.  With the Internet help in identifying fakes is especially important because restitution and resolution of frauds can be difficult.

There is something to be learned from studying fakes in terms of production and how distribution of the fakes is accomplished.  If you can get your hands on a fake it often becomes obvious because of weight, appearance, or feel.  But when they are purchased on-line more care is needed.

​Morgan dollars are often forged using steel or steel alloys.  These have a silver appearance, and we have even seen polished ones that are good fakes.  A big giveaway if you can get your hands on the coin is magnetism.  Steel is attracted to a magnet, silver is not.

So when you cannot touch and feel the coin what do you look for to avoid fakes?  Hopefully with this study we can shed a little light on the subject.

Right now the epicenter of fake coin production seems to be China, but others logically exist.  Whether the sheer size of the Country or the effort is State sponsored is irrelevant to the collector who unknowingly purchases one of these coins.

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From our research the production facilities are primitive, but you can apparently produce large quantities with little effort.  These crooks are not trying to dazzle you with their production quality.  Their goal is to apparently flood the market with coins that are not easily identified over the Internet.

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Fakes are certainly not limited to Morgan Dollars and coins of greater rarity are readily available.  As seen in the above photograph, apparently there are stores offering the fakes of your choice.

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Apparently getting or making steel dies isn't much of a challenge for these crooks.