There is an item for auction on Ebay that looks strange to my very uninitiated eyes. Does anyone with experience have an opinion? I posted a question to the seller about this and have not received an answer. http://www.ebay.com/itm/140596673308?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649 unclemike
Doesn't look bad to me at first glance. I think you will find a lot of variability in these as they were produced at a great many mints. I am looking at the price, over $50 and reserve not met. Dang, I have a couple of stacks of these little fellas. I didn't know they had moved up so much.
I would be concerned with what looks like PVC contamination on that coin. I hope you were not the winner.
That's the first thing I noticed too. Then when I saw the word "rare" in the title, I wondered if it was authentic PVC damage, or toothpaste added by the Chinese to make it look like a real coin. Checked the catalog and this coin is anything but rare. Granted my catalog is a few years old, but I can't imagine how this coin could be worth anything remotely close to its current bid. Melt plus 25% would be my best estimate, leaving the coin worth about $40 at current spot.
The assayers initials are right, according to my guide they have a wide date and a narrow date for this issue. I agree that there might be some sort of contamination on the coin. Also the photo is not the best. The 8 reales should have a little more than 3/4 ths an ounce of silver, the coin should weigh 27.07 grams, and be .903 fineness. I think that it would only command a premium over melt in UNC condition.
That 8 reales looks genuine to me. I don't know what the discoloration is and I would ask if I was interested in it but if someone places a reserve it's usually because they're asking too much money for it. The eagle certainly looks like it's supposed to to me. I buy 8 reales quite often. I even received a fake once that I returned right away for a refund. Most fakes of the 8 reales are noticeable right off the bat because the edge detailing is all wrong. Plus it helps to have a book that outlines who's initials are supposed to be on which years etc.
While this question received all sorts of opinions, no one addressed the OP question posted in the title. The eagle looks wrong because the photographer lighted the coin from the bottom and our eye/brain is expecting light to fall on a raised item from above. I am not saying that you should or should not buy the coin but I certainly would not hire the photographer. As more of us become accustomed to poor photos, fewer of us are realizing the relief problem caused by poor lighting and more will concentrate on things like PVC and cleaning which are what their eye/brain is conditioned to seek out.
I don't think it is the brain so much as it is camera sensitivity to the specific wave-length of the color. For whatever reason, PVC damage that is hardly noticable, or even undetectable with the human eye, simply leaps off the coin when viewed in a photograph. And that's without any kind of hocus-pocus software manipulation too. Or so it has been my experience.
dougsmit Thanks for answering my question. I'm an old guy and it's nice to learn something new. I didn't know about the optical illusion you explained. After reading your post, I can stare at the picture and the eagle changes from relief to raised, then back to relief. I do understand your explanation. And no, I'm not in the market for any 8 Reales, I already own two. Thanks, unclemike
As a test, download the photo and rotate it so the coin is upside down. Now the light comes from the top so the eye sees a proper relief on an upside down coin. It should be harder to make the coin look incuse but the colors have not changed.
Plus you have to understand, people on Ebay tend to be kind of stupid (not all of them but in general), and if you suggest a coin is worth a certain amount via reserve, you'll find someone who'll pay it regardless of whether or not it's actually worth that much. Heck, people actually do with without a reserve. I routinely see coins selling for at least twice what they're worth. The power of suggestion my friend.
At one time it was quite profitable to sell to the stupid people on eBay, until the fees for selling there were raised so high that the seller had to be equally stupid to sell on the site.
