One coin dealer told me that some of the fakes are actually made of silver. I once bought 11 silver dollars (mostly San Francisco marked) and two coin dealers told me at one fast look that they were fakes. I told my jeweler that they were fake but he still bought them for $50 more than what I paid. I was happy but would have rather made the $3700 profit that they could have been worth. Oh well - the fun is in the hunt.