1893-CC Morgan Dollar

For Morgan dollar collectors, the year 1893 is etched permanently into their brains. For starters, there’s the key date 1893-S, where the handful of Mint State examples known to exist can cost as much as a house. If you’re chasing proofs, the 1893 proofs generally cost thousands of dollars. The remaining options for 1893 all cost thousands of dollars in Mint State: the Philadelphia business strikes, as well as the 1893-O and 1893-CC business strikes.

Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) recently received a purported example of the 1893-CC business-strike Morgan dollar. The coin’s dark color was created artificially to give the illusion that it has developed toning over many years. That toning, like the rest of the coin, is phony. 

The artificial toning was also likely done to try to mask that this coin was struck in copper and nickel rather than the expected 90-percent silver. Because copper and nickel are less dense than silver and the counterfeit needed to match the diameter and weight of a genuine coin, this causes a noticeable increase in the thickness of the fake.

Other red flags on this coin include lumps of metal on Liberty’s forehead and denticles that are not fully struck up in places. In addition, toolmarks can be seen emerging from Liberty’s hair around the bottom of her cap. Toolmarks point to a problem with the fake dies that the counterfeiter was trying to correct.

The date also is problematic because the “3” appears slightly larger than the other digits. This is an indication that a master counterfeit die was likely produced with only the digits “189,” allowing various years in the 1890s to be struck by adding a final digit later.

Whenever collectors invest a substantial amount of money in a Morgan dollar or any other coin, they want to rest assured that it is genuine. Remember, NGC backs its determinations of authenticity and grade with the NGC Guarantee.

A version of this article appears in the April 2025 issue of The Numismatist (money.org).