They were both described as 0.2g over and I was bold and took the chance..........so bona fide or not........I have been stung once before and I found it takes someone well versed with these coins to ID them.............as I said...........I didn't bid so much that it was financially damaging but not cheap either so fingers crossed.
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Do not like both but won't say right away they`re fake. The 1821 got graininess, problems on rims. 1843 got exactly the same graininess issue, its either camera settings or both are fake. Some parts of both coins show significant wear, other parts are intact, as if on AU58. Might be minting issue, which is unusual, but on both different coins from same seller? For more information need exact weight. "0.2g over" is unusual but still doesn't mean they`re fake. Also need to see the edge lettering. Not a huge expert on Empire silver, I collect other periods, but form those photos I would never buy them.
Hilarious. The lettering around the bust are not even real letters, its imitation of cyrillics, a really bad and unreadable imitation.
Oh dear............so twice bitten.................won't be paying the invoice and deleted card from the portal account. Keep telling myself stick to what you know.......
Yep modern fakes. Any time you see a circulated looking coin from Imperial Russia described as overweight, run far and fast.
One of those new generation counterfeits. This is not easy to tell. The only obvious sign is the surface. 1843 mw ruble is not too common as it was struck in Poland. At this point of time even copper coins are counterfeited so make sure you know what you at getting.
I'm not a Russian coin expert by any means, but once you've seen enough counterfeits a few red flags begin to jump out, no matter the type. On these, the two big things that scare me are: 1.) the overall feel of the fields and devices. The devices especially look grainy and unusual. 2.) The lettering and devices are also bloated and distorted. Lettering should be crisp, not rounded and worn like that. These appear to be pretty good fakes, probably a 5 or 6 out of 10, so don't feel bad. I just hope you can return them.