hi there - could someone here tell me about this coin ? I have heard there are a lot out there that are non genuine. Any idea what its worth ? I will try to attach two photos. The coin is silver, 1.125" in dia, 0.115" thick (at the thickest part), and it weighs roughly 11 gr (as per our postage scale). Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome to the forum johnny!! You may want to register with photobucket so you can post larger pics. Just register and post the links. Someone else will chime in later
The Obverse of your coin looks a lot like the obverse of the 1739 Spanish Dollar; still looking for the reverse side for a more proper ID. The Spanish dollar (also known as the piece of eight, the real de a ocho or the eight-real coin) is a silver coin, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. It was legal tender in the United States until an Act of the United States Congress discontinued the practice in 1857. Because it was widely used in Europe, the Americas, and the Far East, it became the first world currency by the late 18th century. Many existing currencies, such as the Canadian dollar, United States dollar, and the Chinese yuan, as well as currencies in Latin America and the Philippine peso, were initially based on the Spanish dollar and other 8-reales coins. Wikipedia 2010 With all the ones I have seen, the reverse so far I have yet to locate, it almost looks like a token more then actualy currency. Still looking though. It is said this coin is faked a lot, an easy redo for those who know how. Found one on Auction online.com, it here too is referred to as a token. This one is up for auction for $2.00.
ML9er. For these types of coins, I saw prices all over the place. As mentioned from $2.00 into the several hundreds, to over a thousand in one case on our most popular auction site, eBay. I was only able to find one other like yours noted as being a token and not a coin.
coming from a newby coin collector , what exactly does a different reverse mean? It's solid silver, i'm guessing it's not - or wasn't a token, but that of course is my opinion.
Reverse = tails side of the coin. Your piece is a replica of one side of a Mexican silver coin, probably designed for tourists. A legitimate reverse of this coin looks something like this: Note the 8 to the right of the shield; that's the coin's denomination in reales. The style of your piece -- as well as the text in both English and French -- is all wrong for the period. Your piece is also closer to the size of a 4 reales piece and at least two grams underweight even for that.
It's a replica. The obverse would either have the reigning monarch (Philip V in this case) or the coat of arms. Gazillions of these replicas were made as souvenirs. The scroll wrapped around the pillar is where many believe our American dollars sign came from.
