I was prepping this coin for sale and while looking at the images I had taken of it I noticed that it appears to be over struck on another coin. I don't see much on the obverse that I can get a picture of...but I definitely see it on the reverse. I know this is pretty common for some pieces to be overstruck, but I hadn't seen a cap and rays over struck before... I'm confident it's not just a double strike. I can't find that shape and letter combination on either side of this coin. So it's struck over something. Can anyone identify what it's struck on? I'm going to keep looking and see if I can't find and good candidates.
:thumb:Good eye Matt! but what other coin it could be?? I will wait to hear what more is found. :kewl:
Maybe the reverse is struck through a very late stage capped die. By very late stage I mean that the cap is completely gone except for a little debris remaining at the edge. This might explain the large leaf which looks like a spread version of the leaf in the coin's design. I kind of looks like it is struck through debris but the debris has spread remnants of the original coin's design.
I would think if that was the case the A that appears on the other side would be significantly larger as well. It looks to be a normal size. Also if struck through the remnants of a die cap those underlying design elements would be incuse and not raised as they are.
Does it weigh properly, I wonder if it was a contemporary counterfeit? Either struck over a slightly lighter coin or one of lower purity.
I hadn't thought to weigh them... This piece shown is light it weighs 19.9 grams as compared to the 27 a normal piece is supposed to... Does this make it a counterfeit? It is possible... but it is also possible that the original coin was lighter in weight and it was allowed to be struck at the mint anyways...
And now does the dimensions match up (dia and thickness) if they do then you are dealing i suspect a lower purity metal.
Just by looking at the image I believe that it was struck over the exact same design, but one that was allingned differently and slightly off center. The underlying A that is plainly seen I think is the A in Republica, you can see the remnants of the C before it and the remnanats of the following M in Mexicana. Given the other info regarding the weight I believe that your counterfeiter (and it pretty much has to be a counterfeit being that light) tried to make use of a planchet that he screwed up on (struck off center) and struck it again resulting what you have.
Yep, That's it... I see it now... I was thinking that looked like a leaf on the right... but it's the bottom design.
