Thread: Need some help with this one.....

Hi,

In a bag of worldcoins I found this Mexican coin. Made of copper, 36 millimeters.
Republica Mexicana is hard to read but with some imagination you can.

The other side is a mystery to me. Only the mintmark M is readable. According to size it should be an 8 reales piece, but I can't find it in my catalog because there aren't any copper 8 reales coins. Anyone has clue?

Thanks

D68

Hm that's interesting. Where did you find it?

Like I said, in a bag of worldcoins someone gave me. This piece is the only mistery in it. The rest was "regular stuff"

D68

Hmmm, it looks like a 19th century 8R Reale, but it's copper?

Bone

It was probably a plated counterfeit.

The 19th Century silver 8 reales, as well as the 19th and early 20th Century silver peso and 2 peso coins with the eagle/snake obverse and the Liberty Cap with rays reverse listed in Krause all have a legend with the date, denomination, mint mark and other information around the outside bottom of the reverse, which this one doesn't seem to have room for.

With one exception the illustrations of copper/bronze pattern coins of that approximate size and design shown in the 19th Century Krause also have that legend.

The exeception is shown as PN50, an 1834 copper 8 reales, and Pn52, an 1835 copper 4 escuedos. (A reeded edge silver 8 reales is listed under the same illustration as Pn51.)

I'm not inclined to believe you found either of those patterns in a dealer's junk box as Pn50 carries a Krause market value of $3,500, and Pn52 is too rare to have a price!

Hi,
It looks like KM#769 or KM768.2 or KM#768.2. Sinaloa, a Mexican State.
I can find some that should be of silver, not sure of a copper one. They are crude sand cast versions that used a real coin to start with.
Have Fun,
Bill
PS: 1999 Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins

Originally Posted by GDJMSP

It was probably a plated counterfeit.

If it was a very valuable coin, I do agree. But an 8 reales coin? Was it worthed to be counterfeited and....... wouldn't there be some traces of the silverplating?

What was 8 reales worth back then? i.e. what could you get for it? What would the coin fetch today as a collectable? Two things to consider when questioning why things are conterfeited. But the realm of possibilities is endless, but the answer is always the same, for any conterfeit coin, it was profitable for someone.

Given the corrosion on this coin, I'd say its quite possible for all potential plating to have disappeared.

Originally Posted by lawdogct

What was 8 reales worth back then?.

I think it was slightly more than the US dollar coins by silver weight. BTW, there were quite a few counterfeiters of the US dollar coins in the late 1800’s too.

8 reales in that condition whould be $7-$8.

Edit*
It could be a Mexican hard time token or medallion. Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins only shows some 50% of Mexican coins.

Thanks for the info guys

D68

Hi Guys,
Just a note, It was not a counterfeit. The method of production of the coins I described was casting. It was not made as a fake, It was meant to circulate.
Have Fun,
Bill

Originally Posted by happycobra

I think it was slightly more than the US dollar coins by silver weight.

I should have been a little clearer. By "worth" I meant what was the coins buying power back then. Today, 1$ will barely buy you a can of coke on the streets of NYC. In 1835 you could buy waterfront property in Galveston Bay Texas at 10 cents an acre.

(*1835 numbers gleaned from the Diary of William Fairfax Gray, Virginia to Texas, 1835-1837)

In the 1830's a semi-skilled laborer earned probably between 1 and 2 dollars a day. In Mexico the wages would have been even lower. A 8 reales would probably represent somewhere between 2 days to a weeks wages. In todays terms think of it as a coin with a face value of somewhere between 200 and 300 dollars. Worth while to counterfeit? You betcha.