I have these 2 coins i bought In a huge lot and want to know if these are real or fakes. the first i think is the Mass oak tree. The second is sommer islands. thats all i know. Please help with all other details and if they are real. THANKS!!.
The surfaces of the coins are not correct. See how they are bumpy and kind of grainy? This is a tell-tale sign of a cast counterfeit. I have also owned a couple of genuine pine tree shillings over the years along with some of the other rare colonial pieces. Once you see a real one close up and get a chance to study it... these replicas are easy to spot.
Not much. These coins were included in cereal box promotions and lots of other things like that. When I saw the title of the thread I was 99% sure what they were since I have about 80 of these little suckers from group lots I have bought. They were put aside in the 60's or 70's in coin junk piles and just accumulate there. Any time I see a pic of one of these in a group lot on Ebay, (or Judean coins, or coins Chinese have typically faked like trade dollars), I always assume they are fake and valueless. They are very common.
