Does this 8 Reales look genuine?

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by KSorbo, Jul 12, 2017.

  1. KSorbo

    KSorbo Well-Known Member

    I bought this coin in the mid to late 90's during a Navy port visit to San Juan, Puerto Rico. I later showed it to a dealer who told me that it weighed out correctly but still wasn't sure about authenticity. I'm thinking about putting it on EBay but don't want to unknowingly list a fake, as there are already enough of those for sale with me adding to the problem.

    What do you guys think? Also, if it is genuine, does the Potosi mint mark carry a premium? IMG_0861.JPG IMG_0860.JPG IMG_0865.JPG
     
    Puckles and coin_nut like this.
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  3. Paddy54

    Paddy54 Well-Known Member

    Looks good to me what's it weight ?
     
  4. KSorbo

    KSorbo Well-Known Member

    Not sure but I can try to weigh it tomorrow at work. What should it weigh?
     
  5. BlackBeard_Thatch

    BlackBeard_Thatch Captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge

    27.2638 grams, minimum 26.8646 also looks good to me.
     
  6. H8_modern

    H8_modern Attracted to small round-ish art

    Pretty common date and MM and nothing looks wrong to me. You might do better locally than eBay, probably won't get more than $40-50 either way so save the 12%.
     
  7. rte

    rte Well-Known Member

    Bolivia 8 Reales KM #73
    1799PTS PP

    edited
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 13, 2017
  8. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Unless one is truly an expert on these coins, and few are, it's very hard to detect many of the counterfeits. You might want to contact Dan Sedwick, send him pics of the coin and ask his opinion of its authenticity. He's usually quite helpful to most collectors.

    http://www.sedwickcoins.com/
     
  9. KSorbo

    KSorbo Well-Known Member

    It weighed in at 26.68g. Is that definitely underweight even considering the wear?
     
  10. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    I'd have to say it strongly suggests it's fake because there's no where near enough wear on that coin to account for the weight being that low.
     
    BlackBeard_Thatch likes this.
  11. KSorbo

    KSorbo Well-Known Member

    So is it even worth asking Dan Sedwick for an opinion if the weight is truly a show stopper? Perhaps the coin is still worth something if it is a contemporary counterfeit, or if there are specific dates and or mints that were underweight?
     
  12. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Sure you can still ask him - couldn't hurt. But my guess would be that it's a modern Chinese fake as there are scads and scads of them out there. As for this -

    There aren't, certainly not for that series anyway. Now if it was a coin from Potosi that had been minted 150-200 years earlier ( I can't recall off the top of my head the exact date range), yeah it would a possibility. Back then there was a scandal that came to light where the Potosi mint was producing underweight coins. But the perpetrators were caught by the Spanish Crown, some were executed, others were tortured, others imprisoned. And that pretty much put an end to that !

    By the time this series came along, the people at the mint toed the line.
     
  13. David Setree Rare Coins

    David Setree Rare Coins Well-Known Member

    Looks good to me but the photos sure hurt my neck. Clear enough though.
     
  14. Daniel Lowery

    Daniel Lowery Active Member

    Pretty coin, and
    I'm guessing not many counterfeits in the 90s. Pretty coin. I just sent (2) 1753, 1763 to NGC that graded VF details. Yours by comparison should be much higher, say XF?
     
  15. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Look at the pillars on the reverse. One should be able to read the inscription PLVS ULTRA (more beyond). With the PLVS heavily worn off the left pillar, and almost equal wear on the right, I think the actual condition closer to a fine +. The wear looks pretty even, including the rim, somewhat harder to fake. If it were to pass the magnet test and it also were dated to before 1781, I would have bought it at a price of about $45 and thought it a good addition to my collection of coinage used by the Revolutionary War era. By the way, I have found more variation in weight for these coins than one might imagine.
     
  16. moneditis

    moneditis Reales de a 8

    Hard to say through not really good photograhs, but...I do not like the coin, specially the rim. Weight is good enough.

    Potosi problem was around year 1640
     
  17. KSorbo

    KSorbo Well-Known Member

    I just emailed Dan Sedwick with a link to this thread and photos of the coin. I'm curious to hear his response. Even if the coin is fake I'm definitely enjoying and learning from this discussion.
     
  18. KSorbo

    KSorbo Well-Known Member

    Okay, drum roll, here's what I got from Dan...

    IMG_0872.JPG
     
    serafino, Puckles, ddddd and 2 others like this.
  19. David Setree Rare Coins

    David Setree Rare Coins Well-Known Member

  20. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Congratulations...always get more than one opinion.
     
  21. BlackBeard_Thatch

    BlackBeard_Thatch Captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge

    Very Nice! Congrats, its always fun to find genuine Spanish silver!
     
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