Hey folks, I went to the LCS today and found this big one in the 50¢ bin. I figured it was fake, but tried the ping test anyway. It, based on my prior experience, passed and appears to be on silver. it is underweight as shown below. On top of this, some of the lettering is weak and some of the denticles look odd. anyone have an idea on the silver content, value, and desirability? here is a link to a video of me ping testing it. https://youtube.com/shorts/gJt6bnXOy30?feature=share Here are the images, including weight and the fuzzy details reminiscent of fakes. Thanks friends and God bless you all ❤️
There's tons of them high priced Chinese coins that are made of Silver, it's been going on for years. Counterfeiters in China and beyond are slicker than snot and at some point they started minting their fakes with real Silver and they're very good at it.
In todays world, if it comes from china it is most likely fake. Would not at all surprise me if the make up fake Pandas issued from their mint in the basement. Phil
I'm quite intrigued as to whether there is any silver in this piece. Not really worth trying to find someone with an XRF around here.
Someone might be willing to give silver melt for it. If it's silver and you only gave 50 cents for it, how could you lose? If it's not silver, and you only gave 50 cents for it, it's not much of a loss to gain an example of a genuine fake coin. At 50 cents, I would have it anytime.
For the majority of China's recent history, It's been known for being strife-torn, poorly-managed, or both at the same time. What I'm getting to is any Chinese coin from the last one hundred and fifty years time could have been counterfeited or otherwise issued under questionable circumstances; silver or gold coins debased by the legal issuer (lawful counterfeiting). 1892, the y.o.i. of the coin in question fits right into this period of disruption in Chinese society.
I bought a stack of these (about 8) for $5.00 at a flea mkt. all magnetic, so I give them to kids to play with and lose. AFTER I tell them they are fake coinsONE is on a magnet.
Oh, I just realized your coin failed the magnet test, I didn't see that earlier! Anyways, here's a seller on ebay right now selling many Chinese fakes made of real Silver. https://www.ebay.com/itm/324823442674?hash=item4ba0fc64f2:g:1mUAAOSwPmlhYWEw
Boy, I hate when that happens. Gets your hopes all up and makes you believe you found a treasure, and then truth hits you in the forehead. Reminds me of the time I was rich, finding a large amount of foreign currency. Boy, oh boy, I was in the money, until an hour later, a member here informed me that the currency had been devalued years ago. Poo!
Thanks, MM! Always a pleasure to hear from you. I am excited to finally meet another young collector in person. That, is something that I have never had.
I'm not sure why anyone looking at someone who sells fake coins for a living would believe it when they say its real silver.
I've seen some fake Chinese coins that were tested by XRF and they were real Silver. Whether the seller is actually selling real Silver coins, I'm not buying any but most fakes from China are actually minted with real Silver nowadays and it's been happening for years.
I don't doubt that many of them have silver content. I've seen the $80 "silver" versions of the $2 counterfeits advertised and I wouldn't trust them myself, that's all.
Selling counterfeit money is [actually] . . . illegal. (Shocking, right!?) We allow eBay, Etsy, et. al., to get away with selling selling counterfeit money.