Just some coins I was thinking of buying in Peru, but I need to be careful because this place is full of counterfeits. I don´t know how to tell other than design and weight. I am a silversmith by trade and I can usually tell the quality of the metal, at least the outer metal. Carolus and Ferdin´s. I bought some Peruvian silver from the same guy which is most certainly real because it is barely worth more than the .5 or .9 silver it is made from. These on the other hand have potentially higher values, and I don´t even mess with cogs around here. This guy is great, he finds all sorts of stuff from the Incan Empire and old Peruvian instruments and things. I don´t think he is a liar, but I don´t trust his opinion on ancient coins. I already bought the little one with the hole through the face for .s/20, or about 8 bucks, it was the oldest and cheapest and easier gamble. the rest I want some more info on. thanks for any help.
Close ups of each coin obv/rev and edge would help. I use this as my reales diagnostics resource: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=61775
im not sure where I would get an xray or lazer test done in Cuzco. Not to mention dragging the poor old indigenous man into a university lab. does anyone know if the weights are correct? I am going to get a pin and try to do a scratch test in a crack, or on the inside of the hole. I think they are silver. I am also going to compare the sounds of them, but I am not sure how much a struck coin from 1800 should be crystallized so I don´t know if it should ring loud or not. does anyone know more about using the ring test accurately? http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinText/Sp-milled.3.html shows weights and sizes.
