hi all! Have a new set of coins and was worried about the authenticity. I was told this is fake. Can any of you verify? I’m just talking about the fractional st Martin counter stamp. Not the American.
I don't know, but the countermarked letters look quite different from this one from the NGC site https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide...ivers-km-12-1817-20-cuid-1084704-duid-1519103
I found this sold one on @ma-shops Stylistically, it is very similar to yours. If it was mine I would send it in to be graded and cross my fingers until it came back.
Are professional graders known to grade and certify what is essentially a fraction or a fragment of a coin? Perhaps I just don't understand the background of these counterstamped Saint Martin pieces well enough and they are now considered their own coin.
The countermarked coin has it's own Krause number so either grading company should grade it with no issues. I saw a couple of graded examples when I was searching.
So I was worried I brought it back to the coin shop and he immediately gave me my money back. I hate to do this unless I’m absolutely certain. To an extent it soils the relationship. I found this online that exactly matches my coin. But I don’t know what to beleive now
I think that online replica is confirmation of your fears. I know little about these countermarked coins from the Caribbean, but would be cautious with such a high ticket item. Are/were the US coins part of the same purchase? Not my area, but they look a bit odd to me and the grading company PPGS is not the same as PCGS and I can find very little online about them online...
The 2 U.S. Pieces in the photo should be of concern to you, if you purchased with an understanding of authenticity.
Been doing business with this guy for a long time. And I plan to continue. He honored the purchase by quickly offering my money back. I’ve bought many coins from him without issue.
To me, the OP's coin doesn't look like the others that were included later (cert'd ones). The OP's coin seems to have an apostophy where the other have a "St", with the "t" much smaller than the S for the abreviation.
Yours was a counterfeit, I'm positive. I collect these cut and counterstamped pieces and each one is essentially unique in terms of how the host coin is cut and what part of the design on the host coin it captures. Also, the stamps are not typically the same in terms of placement. Not only does yours look off but it also matches a replica exactly. Even without the replica photo, I would have been 99.9% certain it was a copy.
Best to research first before you buy. I'm glad to hear your LCS refunded you immediately. You should not worry about "soiling your relationship" since you did more investigation than your LCS did.
