Hi all. I recently had some trouble with a local pawn shop who sold me a coin that was fake. I am now wondering if some other coins I bought there were fake. Can you guys verify the authenticity of this Austrian Ducat. It has a substantial rim ding that allowed me to get the coin below melt. Thank you for looking.
Check this article out: https://www.pcgs.com/news/gold-bullion-spotlight-austria-1915-ducats It appears that as of 2018, 53 million were struck with this date. Yours may be from the 50s... or it may be from 1990. No way to tell.
Yes, it appears to be. I don't see why someone would fake it. Best test would me XRF or sigma or whatever they call it. But, taking a shaving and using a gold testing kit would work too.
Your best bet is to take it to a jeweler or coin shop and have them test it, may cost you $5 but it's worth it to know! The coin is a common restrike but whether it's real or not, I just can't tell from a pic. I mean it looks right but since you bought a fake there before, best to have it tested!
I once had a fake. It was part of a mixed lot on eBay that went low (around $10) and I could make out a blurry looking gold Ducat restrike. I figured the chances were low that it was real gold but felt like the small dollar gamble was worth it. When I got it in hand, the weight and details were off. Just in case I did send it to a person I knew who could test gold and he verified it was just base metal.
Here is an Apmex listing and PCGS page with real examples that you can compare the original post to: https://www.apmex.com/product/14772/1915-austria-gold-1-ducat-bu-prooflike https://www.pcgs.com/valueview/austria/1915-ducat-restrike/976?sn=20859&h=pop
It is a $200+ item just in terms of gold value, so it makes sense that someone would try to counterfeit them.