Hi! I'm puzzled. I've had this 1900 Sydney coin a long time and have always known it to be fake. See the rev side where the plating has been ground off. And you can't see it well in the pic but the rider's high points, his upper arm and helmet are of a different color, like brass. Anyway, what puzzles me is that the coin weighs 3.91 grams and an authentic coin weighs 3.981 grams. The difference could be the material that's been removed. My question is.. is it common for a fake to be of the exact correct weight? How could it be made and of what material so that it weighs so correctly? Anybody have an idea? Thanks, gthawus
IMO, not always right I believe you have the newly minted weight wrong should be 3.994 g, 19mm, one of the highest minted coins of the type at 260,000 for the Sydney mint in 1900.looks real to me, I've checked it against the real thing, everything looks correct and it looks like it has lost a good chunk of metal and the coin has been circulated which will count for a little loss. The next thing is to check the gold content which won't ruin the coin its already there. The gold content should be .917 If that's right then you should have the real deal. But then Daveydempsey could be right on made of tungsten, if it is then its a good counterfiet
Thanks guys. I don't see how it can be authentic. Look at the lower left area of the scratching/grinding on the reverse. You can see the edge of the plating. I wasn't aware of tungsten being a base for this sort of thing. Funny how your curiosity gets going on something like this. I'm not very good on the internet, but it's amazing how information can be gathered and researched.
FYI, go to this site and look around, you can add your coins as an inventory and most US and world coins are on there. I use it from time to time, I used it for your coin http://en.numista.com/
