I bought this coin a while back from ebay. It looked okay from the item description and picture, so I went ahead and bought it. I am beginning to wonder if it is genuine though. I sharpened in the images after I scanned them to show more detail, details on the actual coin are a little more worn. The weight came in at 26.0 g. Anyone care to enlighten me? I have a portrait 8 reales I know to be real (bought from Bob Reis) and it was 24.9 g but it was really really worn and holed. Thanks!
Looks good to me but I'm no expert on these. However, I don't see the normal tells that out many of these counterfeits. :kewl: Ribbit
I just rewrote my reply... at first glance your coin to me is the real Mccoy...however after looking at the Assayer mark I now question my call. Here's what I found on this coin and date . Mexico mint established in 1535 your coin has the OM mint mark. the first coins minter there in 1536. it continued to produce coins until 1821 In 1732 the first pillar dollar coins minted with a new screw press technolgy. now the clincher the assayer on your coin is M >>>> M assayer there were two the first from 1728-1732 the second from 1737-1740 coins after that were assayed by "YA" in 1722-1733 "E" from 1733-1738 "P" 1740-1742 "C" 1741-1745 "q" 1744-1760 "E" 1750-1753 "C" 1753-1754 "J" 1759 AND "V" 1760-1773 your coins assayer "M" and does not match the date to the assayer. Sorry but thats what my references say Paddy I need to correct my find as the reference book I used flipped pages on me when I left my desk. I was looking at the posti mint assayers not Mexico City. IMO from the pictures posted and my reference book on reales this coin is 100 % real I apoligize for the mistake. Paddy
OMG sorry my bad I am so sorry I was looking at the wrong page...my bad for sure 1760-1772 "F-M" joint assayers Bust Dollar Carlos lll .I do apoligize... geee glad I caught the error on my part the book is rather large and the pages flipped from the mexico mint to the Potosi mint and the assayers were different. DUH Again sorry it is real Paddy
Because of the weight, I suspect it is not real. Tolerances were 27.2638gm to 26.8646gm - their tolerance was plus or minus 4 grains. Now, people think that because a coin is worn that the weight can be less than it supposed to be. But few have any real idea how much less. The only way to find this out is to weigh genuine coins that are well worn. Once you do that you begin to find out that wear actually reduces the weight very, very slightly. For example, the coin you have posted should only be, at most, a tenth of a gram (1/10 or 0.1gm) lighter than spec. So odds are quite good that it is not real. As for the other coin you mention that weighed 24.9, either that is a very big hole or it is not real either.
Here is the other Piece of Eight, like I said, I bought it from Bob Reis over on anythinganywhere.com just to see how much low one of these worn things can weigh. And thanks for all the responses so far, its been enlightening
OK, now consider - you report that coin is 24.9gm. That means it is very close to 2 grams light. With the lowest allowable weight being 26.86gm, that means it is pretty dang close to 10% light. Now does that hole look to be 1/10 the size of the entire coin ? Not even close. Odds are very good the coin is a fake.
Thanks for the info , I would of thought it would of lost .5 of a gram , a lot more than you stated , thanks for setting us to the right amount . Just wondering how much does your AGE pocket piece weigh now ? Rusty:hatch::hammer:
The last time I checked, some months ago, and it was down to low VF condition then - it had lost a grand total of about 3/100ths (0.03gm) of a gram.
No wonder those coins circulated so long , I was under the mistaken belief they took them out after 10 year average , if they did take them out it was probably because you couldn't read them anymore . IMO rzage
