Hi, I purchased this coin some time back from a reputable dealer on ebay (I think). I am now going to resell it but I am afraid it might be fake. I weighed it and my cheap digital scale shows it as weighing 6.3 grams. My cheap calipers show it to be about the right diameter 21.1. Can anyone here tell me if this is a legit Umberto? The actual measurements are: 20 Lire 1861 - 1923 21.2mm (diameter) 6.4516g weight :headbang:
To be quite honest the pics don't help much. They need to be larger and more clear. Since you question the accuracy of your scale take the coin to a jewelry shop and have them weigh it for you.
To be completely honest with you, it might be worth it to have it certified by ICG if you have a question of its authenticity. (And that means a lot coming from me!)
Run, don't walk, to your nearest jeweler and check the weight. If your scale is accurate, there is no where near enough wear to explain the short weight. That, in turn, would bring into question whether it is really gold, and if your scale is accurate you need to do a specific gravity test.
The edge on those should be "reeded" and on your picture it looks "plain", it could be a fake or somebody took some of the gold (0.15 g?) from the edges, perhaps to use the coin in jewellery or to simply to get some gold... Jose
Crop the pictures in close to the coin - get rid of the background. That will you to make the pics of the actual coin larger so that we can see the details better. And did yo uhave the coin weighed on accurate scale yet ?
I see, it was just a trick of the light...:smile I don't see anything wrong with the coin, the date is a bit "funky" (as it should be), is the "low relief" engraver's signature well struck? (just to put aside any casting suspicions...) BTW, by any chance you're scales accuracy is only 0.1g? If it is, those scales will round 6.34 to 6.3, this added to a some wear (let's say a loss of 0.03/0.04g) and some lack of calibration can explain the 6.3 result.To weight gold coins you really need 0.01 accuracy scales. Jose
I thought the correct weight of this coin was 6.45, is it 6.34? The reason I kinda freaked was I thought I was over .1 off. Like I said, I bought it from a reputable seller, but I don't want to sell a fake,,,,
No, maybe i wasn't very clear, the coin should weight 6.45g (if AU/UNC), i mentioned 6.34g as a rounding example in 0.1 accuracy scales, the same scales will round up 6.35 to 6.4g (again, rounding example!). All i was trying to say is that in 0.1g accuracy scales, the result of: a coin with some wear, the rounding to the nearest decimal (not centesimal like 0.01g precision scales) and a minimal calibration inaccuracy, can be misleading. Jose
Ok i tried cropping and getting closer. This is probably about the best I can get. Thank you all for your help!
Update, I emailed the guy on ebay who I bought it from and he stands by his product as authentic and even offered to buy it back from me. He has 98.6 feedback rating and around 4800 sales.
