I bought this from Bill Fivaz last night at a coin club meeting. I had never seen one of these before, and the price was right.
your quote ""Life is like a box of chocolates." Google Mandela effect. The correct quote is now "Life WAS like a box of chocolates"
I have no idea. I see no evidence of something like that being applied. Maybe there was a high zinc content to make this brass, which can look like gold to an untrained eye. Does brass tone this brown?
Yes - any collector that would not like this piece is simply a rookie. Won't say stupid as I am trying to behave myself as I get older. But - more importantly it would not surprise me if XRF analysis may detect gold in the 1-5 % range or still be seen in hidden crevices visually (i.e., a yellowish hue within the lettering). Normally gold at this level is invisible to the naked eye and its hard to imagine this piece was released as a high pure copper alloy issue in its day. David Wnuck has sold SIMILAR pieces in the past on his FPL and would give you a good profit margin on this piece - IMO. My new book on CCs due out around 3/2017 via Amazon Books will explain these issues - FULLY - indirectly. Indirectly since I discuss these gold mercuric wash copper types mostly with Foreign CCs from 1500-1800 in a 100 page chapter. John Lorenzo Numismatist United States
