I have a French Indo-China 1943-44 Tael "opium bullion issue" L&M#433. These are on the internet listed around 34 grams and 38 grams at different sites. One of these is INCORRECT for the weight of the genuine. For example NGC lists the lower weight. I know they just copy from Krause but I cannot find this listed. Others post the weight at the higher number. You do not need a photo to answer this. Opinions not needed. I wish to hear from a collector/dealer who has an actual coin and wishes to reply. Thanks!
So, if one does not actually own a specimen of the coin, but has an accurate answer to your question, you don't want to hear it? Or is it that you won't believe it?
From what I've seen of the coin I think you're talking about, it appears that it depends on type. The one with a deer head seems to be in the 38 grams range and the other one, KM 1, I think, around 34 grams. I don't own one or am much of an expert so ignore me I guess.
You guys kill me. Now I should like to know how someone WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE WEIGHT OF an actual coin in hand (EDIT L&M#433 which I forgot to post on this site) is going to KNOW the correct weight when it is posted all over the internet with two completely different (by a long way which should be out of tolerance) weights. Posting what I have already researched is not helpful. @Evan8 THANKS for your post. Identical coins w/o the dear head in BU-ish conditions are listed with two different weights. That's the problem. Many sites just copy stuff like dimensions, thickness, and weight off the internet and that continues to prolong misinformation. That is correct. FOR EXAMPLE: Kann lists both types at 36.6 grams! That is a far cry from 38 grams! Stacks-Bowers Hong Kong Auctions do not give weights for the numerous specimens sold.
Just an observation, but if someone here has one, odds are judging by the rarity and prices of these coins, that it is in a slab. Now I'm sure you can figure out the weight by figuring out the weight of the slab and deducting but that may change or skew the answer you're looking for. Point is, maybe you only want someone with a raw example?? And if it's raw, then maybe it's fake, still not giving you your answer. I would think coins used in opium trade would have been counterfeited a lot. Once again just an observation.
I'd think the people who put them into slabs (the TPGs) would know their exact expected weights for authentication. Good luck getting that information out of a TPG, though.
Unfortunately, I've been told that TPGS rarely weigh coins or take specific gravity tests and they have not for decades. I do know that ANACS weighed and photographed every coin sent in during the first years of operation. As the counterfeits got better and closer to mint tolerances, weights were no longer as useful. It is a shame this was the case as we would have had a good record for all of us to fall back on today. Additionally, after 1986, the staff at PCGS and NGC rarely even used microscopes to authenticate coins. IMO, it is too late for them to recover all the lost info and diagnostics from the decades that none of this was done. Today, at least the TPGS are photographing many coins again.
Your comment pretty much sums up the real problem. You see just about everybody believes that is true - that the TPGs "know". Problem is, in a many cases - they don't know at all. And I'm not talking specifically about these Taels that Insider brought up, though they are a good example of the problem. Nor am I am only talking about the TPGs knowing or not knowing the correct weight & dimensions for coins. What I am talking about is the fact, and it is an absolute fact, that there are many different examples of world coins which are counterfeits, but yet have been slabbed by the TPGs as genuine coins. And the people that buy and own these slabbed counterfeits - are not aware that this problem even exists. Insider someplace there is a book that will contain the answer you need. No I don't know the title nor do I know the author. But at someplace, sometime, somebody has written such a book. To find your answer, search for that book - as opposed to the information contained within it.
There is a reason for this - tael weight varied from provinces and it depended on the era as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tael My impression is it's 37.5g, not 38g. But again, coins struck in those era were often underweight so I would not be surprised to see one example weighting 37 grams or less. If you picked one up from ebay at a 'bargain' price - there's a crap lot of counterfeits. This was cheap at one stage until the last five years when prices started to skyrocket. Therefore, if this cannot answer your question - welcome to Chinese numismatics.
