Authenticity cannot be settled on a video call, and in this category that is not a disclaimer, it is the whole situation: the people who judge coins well do it with instruments, in their hands, slowly.
What to ask them to show
The coin on a scale, on camera, with the reading visible. This is the single most useful thing you can ask for, and it costs the seller half a minute.
Callipers across the diameter, if they have them.
Both faces, square on, filling the frame. Not at an angle, not in a holder's glare.
The edge. It is the face people photograph least and ask about least.
Whether it has been cleaned, asked outright. In this category a well-meant polish destroys more value than any courier, and the answer changes what it is worth even when the coin is entirely genuine.
What a refusal means
A weight is a number, and numbers are checkable. A seller who offers a description of the coin's history instead of putting it on a scale has chosen the unverifiable answer.
"It has been in the family for years" is provenance, not authentication, and the two get conflated in this category more than anywhere else.
What this page will not do
It will not give you any coin’s correct weight or diameter, and it will not describe how a cast fake differs from a struck one. Those are exactly the specifics the plan for this site refuses to invent: a buyer who has "checked the weight" against a number from a blog has verified nothing and believes they have.
What the readings are for is sending to somebody who knows the series. That is the honest use of a live show here — evidence gathering, not adjudication.
What protects you if you get it wrong
A fake sold as genuine is not as described: returnable for 7 days whatever the store's policy says, and reportable.
Questions people ask
Does Metzee verify coins?
No. We do not handle items and we do not authenticate.
Is a coin in a graded holder safe?
Safer, and holders are faked too. Ask for photographs of the label and the holder's edges.
Should I ask about cleaning even if it looks fine?
Yes. It is the question that most often changes the price in this category, and it has nothing to do with fakes.
More: spotting a counterfeit before you bid, Metzee's position on counterfeits, reporting a seller, questions to ask before bidding on coins or notes.