Can anyone help me with this? Recently I was given a charm that was my grandmother's and inside of it was this coin. From what I understand, is that it was purchased from a jeweler a very long time ago and it looks as if the jeweler made a charm to fit around the coin and clasp together at the top of the wings. I provided a picture of the back-end of the coin, because it shows wear at the point where the coin sat in the bottom of the charm and collected most of the residue after all these years. What is weird to me is that the wear looks like metal, and I thought the coin was gold, so is this on the outer-side of the coin or did the charm and wear pull a coating off of the coin? Also, I have checked many places to get a dimension for the coin and it reads as 21mm (approx.) and 8.2 grams (digital scale), so it seems that it was correct to what I read about the coin. Any help would be much appreciated.
The weight you report, 8.2gm, is a little light. The correct weight should be 8.359gm. Couple that with the look of the coin and I think you have a gold plated charm there, not a genuine coin. Also, I have deleted the duplicate of this same thread that you started in the What's It Worth section.
Thank you for the response.... honestly with the weight it could be 8.359, I am using a scale that probably isnt the most accurate, but I see your point with the look of the coin. Thats why I decided to post and see cause I know that its very old. I have seen pictures of my grandmother wearing this charm when she was very young, probably back in the 20's. It just surprised me to see the exact coin with no indication of being a copy, due to counterfeiting issues & things of that nature.
It's the picture more than anything that makes me suspicious. You can see where the plating has worn away on the reverse.
Yeah it has me more than confused. It is so hard to tell if it is the coin that is wore down or if being in the ring of the charm and years of god only knows building up inside of it are clumped to it and wore down from moving inside of the ring. I have tried a magnifying glass and everything and just cant tell. It really confuses me that someone would be able to make it so accurate that counterfeiting issues wouldnt come into play.
Yeah, if it is a fake, its kind of scary... how many jewelers did make them and how many people are selling them as the real deal? Like I said before it is probably the correct weight ( I was using a not so accurate scale to get the exact weight), and it is the same dimensions. Everything else is accurate as far as details and mint makr & stuff like that. There could be alot of these out in the market.
Have you placed a magnet against the coin? Gold is not attracted to a magnet. Neither is silver and many other metals. Here in Mexico, there are some counterfeits going around of both gold and silver coins, many of which are made from steel, which is attracted to a magnet. So, we always carry a magnet when we are out coin shopping, and we also weigh coins if they feel light or otherwise make us wonder.
Thank you for the advise, I tried the magnet trick, and it was not attracted to it. I used a few different magnets to make sure it wasnt just too weak, and still did not attract to it. So i at least now know it isnt steel.
OK - look at this picture. You can see where the gold plating has split and has come off the coin. Look at the sharp edges. And you can see where it has even worn away down on the lettering.
I dont' know if I'd throw in the towel yet, check around and see if any dealers would buy it from you for bullion.
