First off, let me admit this was a stupid purchase. I know little about Chinese coins and I know this type is often faked. But it was being sold by a seller who said they didn't know what it was and the price was pretty low. I put in a low bid and ended up winning. I didn't take the time to do the basic research, and when I did I determined it has to be a fake. It is 39 mm, which is the size of the dollar coin, but the weight is 17 oz., instead of 26. Am I correct that this is a fake? It looks silver but it doesn't feel heavy enough. Do you think it's silver outside and something else inside?
I know next to nothing about such coins, but I am (unfortunately) quite familiar with base metal knockoffs that are being offered locally as "foreign silver". Before reading your post, and only looking at the photos, my immediate impression was that of it being another example of said knockoffs. Sorry that I cannot be of more assistance.
counterfeits are usualy noticed when weighing since the coin is a good 10 oz under I would say it is just silver plated with copper fill. typical Chinese counterfeits.
It's a counterfeit. Is it magnetic? If so, there's no further need to discuss. If you did buy this cheap, I guess you asked for it. A genuine YSK crown coin in good VF - XF condition is commanding at least 60 dollars. If you did buy it any lower especially on ebay and it turned out to be genuine, either you must have incredible luck or people weren't looking.
Yes, it is magnetic, so you're right, no more reason to discuss. I paid $7 I believe, so at least I didn't lose that much on it. I should have known better.
Yes, as others have pointed out, it is a fake. Generally, YSK dollars should weigh 25.5-27g, depending on the year and where it was minted as well as the wear. Most of mine are at the 26.7-8g range (going by memory). There are a number of things about those pics that stand out. The surface of the coin seems dull -- it reminds me of sandpaper. The edge is also uneven -- notice the difference between the obverse top and bottom. The surface also seems to have weird, tiny lines not typical of Chinese coins. I wouldn't even pay $7 for it.
Roughness of the surface is a sign that it was cast rather than struck. This makes it one of the cheaper, more mass produced versions. The really dangerous ones are the correct material and weight.
I wouldn't have either if I'd known it was a fake. I honestly expected I'd just get outbid. I never expected to win it. It was just one of those bids you place when you see an auction that is way underpriced and you figure it's worth a shot with a low bid. As I said, I know it was a mistake and I should stick to what I know or at least do more research before I buy.
Hey if you see it with enough time left and it looks too good to be true, you can always post pics of the coin and get some feedback before going into battle =)
Yeah, something like this is something I wasn't looking for and just saw when browsing the auctions that were about to end, so no time. This one aside, I do find some good deals that way, though usually on things I didn't actually need.
Correction: It's the rim, not edge, that is uneven on that coin. The terms are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings to the pros here!
No. The way it was described in the auction was like "Weird Chinese token, medal or something" so I can't really say they misrepresented it. I know a lot of people would return it but it doesn't feel right to me to do that. However, the seller sent me an email a little later saying they had other coins like it if I was interested. I wrote back and said it was a fake and their other coins probably were too. They claimed they didn't know anything about it and they had found the coins in their house left over from a previous owner. I have no way to know if it's true.
That seems kinda pushy on their part. They probably couldn't sell their other coins due to being fakes and thought they could unload the rest on you.
Hard to say. Unlike the other case I had recently with the seller using a shill bidder, I have no evidence that these people deliberately were doing something wrong. There are a lot of people who acquire coins one way or another and don't know anything about them and put them on eBay.