Featured ESTATE SALE FIND: 1803 HALF DOLLAR + 1847 DOLLAR - HOW DO I TELL CONDITION/GRADE?

I got these 2 old coins at a garage sale Sunday. When you think people who used the 1803 half dollar may have fought in the revolutionary war - pretty cool!
Can anyone tell me what grade or condition they are in? (I know it's just a guess seeing them in a photo instead of in person but at least I would have an idea!)
Thank you!

 

Those are both reproductions. Sorry.

 

And you can tell that how?

 

These are really poor reproductions/fakes, especially the 1803. Does not look anywhere near what they should. Mushy and lacking of the level of details that legit examples should have. The 1847 is a bit more deceptive but not much, also lacking of some detail and the rims of the coin are off. Both these series of coins are highly faked since they would be worth big money if legit. They are not 90% silver like they should be and are cast instead of struck. These are found at flea markets and Chinese online sellers everywhere, they have saturated the market.

 

Your right - I looked them up & they should weigh around 28 grams & fakes only weigh around 20 grams; mine weigh 18 & 20 grams...aaaggghhh!!
Thanks Joe2007 - I'm going to go back tomorrow (with my electronic scale) and ask for my money back or a couple of the Morgans he had!

 

I would be extremely cautious of ANY coins this seller has for sale. Morgan Dollars, especially Carson City or "CC" Morgans are also heavily counterfeited. Some counterfeits can weight fairly close to specified weights for legit coins so it isn't a perfect measure to detect fakes. I've seen enough fakes I can usually tell buy just looking at them but there are "better" fakes out there made of real silver and meant to fool the pros that would fool me too.

 

Look at them,real coins are die struck.The coins in your photos appear to have been cast with what looks like casting porosity and air bubbles.

 

U wanna trade back to him his fakes...for other coins he has?????
REALLY ???
Did U not learn a lesson here ??

Stick to your paintings !!!

 

what happens?

 

Nothing. Silver & Gold are not magnetic. Cast fakes usually are.

 

thanks Joe2007

 

The local coin shop down the street from me has one of these. Pretty cool!
https://sigmametalytics.com/

If an item is outside of the normal tolerances, it is usually fake. There are some more expensive models that will spit out a printout of the exact metal composition, although thicker bars may pose issues since they can be "filled" and these tools can only penetrate a certain thickness of metal.

Let us know how it goes @journeymagazine

It is likely your seller knew exactly what they were selling. Flea markets provide ripe ground for such scammers since they can disappear without a trace after unloading their merchandise.

 

cool, thanks Dave