At Beverly Hills Rare Coins we receive many phone calls each week with customers curious about the value of their silver dollars. The most common calls concern the very earliest silver dollars ever produced by the U.S. mint from the years  1794- 1804. These coins are rare and quite valuable in original condition. They have also been heavily counterfeited for many decades, and these fakes are sold everywhere from pawn shops to eBay. While it is certainly possible that your early silver dollar may be authentic, it is much more likely that it is one of the many counterfeits. The only way you can truly know if what you have is genuine is to have it appraised by a professional coin dealer.

In the interest of trying to prevent our customers from wasting their time and money driving to our shop only to be told what they have is a fake, we encourage them to try a couple of things at home to identify a counterfeit. The first test is usually quite obvious to most people and that is to use a magnet. Silver is a non-ferrous metal and will not be attracted to a magnet. If your coin sticks to a magnet, it is fake. There are many types of non-ferrous metal besides silver, and many of the counterfeits are made of them. If your coin does not stick to a magnate that does not mean it is genuine. The second test is to weigh your coin in grams. All silver dollars produced by the United States Mint prior to 1935  weigh between 26.5 – 27.5 grams. Thankfully, most of the counterfeit coins weigh much less, usually 18-20 grams, so they are easy to identify.  If your coin weighs significantly more or less than 26.5 -27.5  grams, it is fake. If your coins weight does fall in the correct range, and it does not stick to a magnate, it now must be appraised by a professional coin dealer for authentication.

If your coin is genuine we will provide you with all of the information you would like about its history, condition, relative rarity and value, along with our buy price. Our hope is that by taking a minute to read this post we have saved you time and provided you with helpful information. Please visit our Beverly Hills location, or call us today at 310-246-4653 to make an appointment. We are happy to be of service.

At Beverly Hills Rare Coins we receive many phone calls each week with customers curious about the value of their silver dollars. The most common calls concern the very earliest silver dollars ever produced by the U.S. mint from the years  1794- 1804. These coins are rare and quite valuable in original condition. They have also been heavily counterfeited for many decades, and these fakes are sold everywhere from pawn shops to eBay. While it is certainly possible that your early silver dollar may be authentic, it is much more likely that it is one of the many counterfeits. The only way you can truly know if what you have is genuine is to have it appraised by a professional coin dealer.

In the interest of trying to prevent our customers from wasting their time and money driving to our shop only to be told what they have is a fake, we encourage them to try a couple of things at home to identify a counterfeit. The first test is usually quite obvious to most people and that is to use a magnet. Silver is a non-ferrous metal and will not be attracted to a magnet. If your coin sticks to a magnet, it is fake. There are many types of non-ferrous metal besides silver, and many of the counterfeits are made of them. If your coin does not stick to a magnate that does not mean it is genuine. The second test is to weigh your coin in grams. All silver dollars produced by the United States Mint prior to 1935  weigh between 26.5 – 27.5 grams. Thankfully, most of the counterfeit coins weigh much less, usually 18-20 grams, so they are easy to identify.  If your coin weighs significantly more or less than 26.5 -27.5  grams, it is fake. If your coins weight does fall in the correct range, and it does not stick to a magnate, it now must be appraised by a professional coin dealer for authentication.

If your coin is genuine we will provide you with all of the information you would like about its history, condition, relative rarity and value, along with our buy price. Our hope is that by taking a minute to read this post we have saved you time and provided you with helpful information. Please visit our Beverly Hills location, or call us today at 310-246-4653 to make an appointment. We are happy to be of service.