My dad showed me his original 1804 US silver dollar he got from se asia.

The wrapper it's marked in says "Idler"

The coin is a little worn but orignal. has the proper writing on the side, "hundred cents one dollar or unit"

Any ideas?

thanks,
johnbo

Hi John, and welcome. I'm sorry to say, but if it came from Asia, it's almost definitely a counterfeit.

Welcome johnbo! Tiff is right on the money.

The US 1804 dollar is one of the rarest and most famous US coins and, I am also sorry to say that the odds of yours being real are slim to none...and slim left on the bus about an hour ago.


Many, many fake coins come out of Asia and the 1804 (and other year US dollars) are high on the list.

Dang, how can you tell? He obtained it from Thailand, btw. Would pictures help?

thanks,
johnbo

You could poke aroound on this page and see some info on Bust Dollar fakes:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgold/dra...sts/page_7.html

You could have it authenticated by one of the services but that is not free. Or you could maybe take it into a local dealer and he might be able to give you some info on how to tell yours is a fake.

Here is some info on the real thing:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgold/dra...sts/page_3.html

and

http://www.pcgs.com/articles/article1296.chtml

It is one of the most studied coins in numismatics and there are 15 real ones that are known (if i remember correctly) and thousands of fakes and copies out there. The odds are just about nil that a new one will show up.

-johnbo

Yours looks like the "Pretender King 1" fake listed on the page (towards teh bottom):

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgold/dra...sts/page_7.html

Notice the shape of the '4' and the die crack after the last 'A' of 'AMERICA'.

I think it would be quick if you took a weight of it by a gram scale, to the nearest 0.1 grams. An original is supposed to be around 27.0 grams +- 0.1gram. If it isn't, it's too fake.

Not too many coins pass that single test...

we could tell because it has a value of greater than $1 Million and all the pieces are known. That means there are none out there to be "found." The owners of these coins are (for the most part) well known in the numismatic community and the pedigree of each of the coins is an important part of their history, so it is well kept info; who owns them, how they are packaged, etc.