Hey, I was recently interested in the worth of this coin but first I need to know is it a fake or real. It's slightly damaged but there really is no ware to be perfectly honest only tiny scratches. On the head side it says. "Dei Gratia 1776 Carolus III" And on the other said it says. "Hispan Et Ind Rex M 8R F M" I found this coin 6 or 7 years ago I'm not perfectly sure where I found it I think in my back garden but still I have never been sure if it's 100% authentic. Thanks for all answers.
1. Where is your back garden (general location)? 2. It appears to be a Spanish eight Reals, I.E. pieces of eight. 3. We're going to need better pictures to tell if it's real or not. 4. Welcome to the forum!
In the meantime, an accurate weight (preferably in grains) would be helpful. I add my "welcome" also.
Probably couldn't tell solely on the basis of even really good photos, which is why I asked about its weight.
Even then you still don't know for sure if it's fake or not. Many fakes are made with silver of the correct fineness and weight. Unless you are an expert with a specific type of coin and can examine the coin in hand, the best can ever do is offer an educated opinion.
Absolutely agree. The most you can do remotely is try to gather as much data as possible. The reason I asked for a weight was if it does turn out to be wrong, that'd be fairly definitive. Could suggest a magnet test, too, as any ferric content would also make for a pretty easy call, but since it doesn't exhibit any rusting from having been in the ground, that's probably going to be a nonindicator. Counterfeits and fakes really are the bane of this hobby, aren't they?
They can be. It would truly be the rare exception for a collector to not have or have had at least 1 and usually several fakes and/or altered coins in their collection. But there's a very simple way to prevent it happening to you. Only buy coins from trusted and respected dealers. Do that and you'll never have to worry about it. But most folks just simply refuse to follow that easy rule.
Again I basically agree, and that's one reason I buy well over 90% of my stuff from established dealers, but even that's no slam dunk . This recent thread got my attention: http://www.cointalk.com/threads/trade-dollar-trickery.241538/#post-1851673 But the lesson from that thread is that at least with a dealer as opposed to some parking lot transaction off a Craig's List ad, you'll likely have some recourse. Heck, even TPG's have been found to have mistakenly authenticated a fake (albeit rarely). Anyway, not wanting to take this thread too far off course, here's hoping that Conor posts some more photos and other info soon.
Just because a dealer is established, even well established, that doesn't mean that he is a trusted and respected dealer.
His looks real. I have a fake I will put a picture up. Notice the 6. The cloth over the shoulder and the ear. These are tell tell signs. At least I’m 99 % sure. Look at mine ( fake ). His real. Could be worth some very good money. Good luck.