A neighbor lady accross the street from me showed me her coin collection and this one caught my eye. Nice early date. I believe it is spanish copper. Too bad it was holed. What is it? Colonial maybe? Tom
because its got the design of a half guinea but it is obviously not gold...and there are many different type of base metal reproductions of this type....just for one. It not as much a fake as what is called a Jeton I think. It is a coin made to look like a GIII half guinea used as a counter, a token, often a way to advertise a business even......its probably pretty old though probably not issued in the date on the coin...its not a modern fake but probably closer to a contemporary novelty. I have one that imitates a Guinea of George III issued by a company. It is in almost perfect condition and I bought it for 9 USD if that helps you understand the value of this one...and the one I bought was minted in the early 1800's as I was able to find an old article talking about the company and the promotion they were minted for...
tdec, you may want to check this thread that contains some info on Jetons. http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=25594 Lou
BTW...this is the article about them...and the one I have: of course this is not the type as the one here in this thread...but without doubt you do not have a genuine coin.
I don't think it is a jeton. Every jeton of this type that I have run across has different legends. This one has the same legends as a genuine coin. Therefore I think it is nothing but a counterfeit.
I think it is a Jetton (token), it is an imitation not a counterfeit minted to deceive...here are a few more just like it or very similar that were minted as 'toy' coins for give aways....: This is an example of one of the many imitations struck in brass mostly during the 19th century in Birmingham for use as counters in games and for advertisement. The perforation suggests that it subsequently had an ornamental purpose: many were used to decorate the chains of pocket watches. http://www.winchestermuseumcollecti...mFromLink&filename=num.mdf&itemId=WINCM:C2607 http://www.winchestermuseumcollecti...mFromLink&filename=num.mdf&itemId=WINCM:C2611