1903, 1907 2 1/2 Dollar gold coins from bracelet

Hi again. Are these two gold coins still collectable? They were detached from a bracelet for melting. Or are they good for just the gold bullion value?

Thanks guys.

 

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I forgot the dimensions. 1903 is 17.6-17.7mm 4.2 grams, 1907 is 17.8-17.9mm 4.2 grams. Are they even real?

 

probably real, and worth a bit more than melt.

But not much.

 

The arrows aren't right on reverse, in my opinion. It has the lettering of the old reverse, which saw it's last use in 1861. The arrows should be seperated, like in the photo below.


Hopefully I'm wrong and you have a great find.
Guy~

 

I'll give you $5 for the lot.

 

they both look like cast copies to me as well.
The detail is softer than normal, and also the font, and detai look alittle off.

Speedy

 

very mushy details, i agree with the above assessments

 

There's nothing that screams FAKE about either of these. The weight should be 4.18 grams and these are within tolerances of that. If they were off-metal there would have to be something heavier than gold in them to bring the weight up. The diameter standard is 18mm; yours are close enough.

There are none of the indicators of a casting, such as porosity or bubbles. There is no sign of a seam on the front or back rims; a photo of the edge might help to be sure.

A side-by-side stereoscopic examination with yours and a genuine example doesn't show any deviation in the design or lettering.

My vote is that they're genuine. Hopefully the substance used to hold them in the jewelry holders isn't solder, glue can be removed chemically.

 

Take a closer look at the arrows. There are no similarities at all.
Guy~

 

They both look fake to my eye -- details look mushy (particularly on coin #1) and odd fields say cast countefeit to me. I'd like to see much higher resolution photos, however, and a shot of the edge.

 

Hi guys. these were taken off a bracelet. A gold bracelet.
I will take photos of the edges.

 

I had a gold coin in a bezel that was worn by a relative many years ago.
The look of that coin compaired to these is totally different!

The coin in the bezel was littered with small marks when looked at closely! It was also shiny in apperance due to contact with skin, water, soap and lord knows what else over the years. It had been cleaned the whole gamut of bad things to do to a coin...LOL

These coins look dull and have like a porus surface to them unlike a natural gold coin. I can not say with 100% certainty, but I would suspect these to be cast as well. Since the coin is in rough looking shape and very dull looking for gold the ultimate test would be the nitric acid test!

Any metal not being gold would begin to degenerate when immersed in Nitric Acid! Since gold is resistant to all forms of corrosion, why not try it?

The sodering on these coins have ruined them anyway except for any gold content..


RickieB

 

Just becasue they were on a bracelet doesn't mean they are real. I've seen many such pieces, and most are with fake coins.

Speedy

 

ok guys. I see. The owner just wants this checked out for "collectability". Though he says they are gold and he has a jewelry shop. It's just he doesn't know if it's the "real thing".

Actually i took real high resolution photos. But cointalk will only allow 250 kb. So I had to resize every photo. Also decreasing the resolution.

Should I still take photo of the edges Leadfoot? :smile

 

Do your photos show the true color of the coins? If not, you may need to adjust your white balance. If so, the color looks nothing like genuine gold coins.

 

Well, truth be told, if they are real, they aren't really worth much more than melt anyways. The OP posted the weight and dimensions which lead me to believe the coin is made of gold in similar proportions to the real deal. I honestly don't understand the purpose of making fakes of common date gold coins that are worth melt anyways. It could be cast, though its my understanding that the cast technique is most often used with base metals.
You could do a ring test as well.

I agree, the surfaces look funny. Very dull and flat looking. If real, it's been polished or altered to some extent.

I don't think it matters much as far as value goes.

 

GDJMSP, Here is an article for the counterfeit detection guide on the PCGS website.

"Virtually all cast counterfeits are underweight, compared with the genuine coins from which they are copied, due to the fact that base metals usually are used in place of any precious metals that would have been present in the original coins."

http://www.pcgs.com/articles/article1796.chtml

This would imply to me that gold cast counterfeit at the correct weight and dimensions would be rather uncommon(though not out of the question). Am I misinterpretting this, or do you disagree with PCGS?

I do agree however that the seem around seems mighty suspicious(no pun intended).