Found in tub with other coins of France. Small mark above 10 reverse. Cause? Mark on coin due to silver content made by other coins? Lower value if not error?
Unfortunately it is a modern fake of an otherwise pricey date. I don't think it's even made of silver, certainly does not appear to be. This type of fake is copied with pretty accurate details and then the date is filled in for various different years. This is why the details mostly look ok, but the last two digits in the date are totally wonky.
I took it to 2 different professional coin dealers. Neither determined it to be a fake. Anything is possible.
I do know the larger piastre coins of this design were a popular target for Chinese counterfeiters in the late 20th century. This one does have a bit of that "Made in China" appearance, due to the softness of some of the details, and, as mentioned, the date numerals in particular. Those really have the "Chinese fake" look. So I too was initially quite dubious of its authenticity, though not enough to outright condemn it. But on the other hand, the coin could just be cleaned/polished and the pictures a bit overexposed, which would tend to make it look fake without necessarily being fake. Perhaps some did get struck with crude numerals, though the "A" mintmark on this indicates Paris, which one would not expect to be striking crude coins in 1910. It does look to me like it could be silver, but just cleaned? That mark @Ditto mentioned looks like a possible planchet flaw. But it could just be a hit. One would have to look closely around the tip of the wreath there, and especially under the H. If the damage appears to run underneath the H, with none apparent on the H itself, that's evidence of a planchet flaw. If, on the other hand, the H is visibly affected at all, it's PMD (post-mint damage). I think I see some traces of scratching on the H, but can't really tell for sure from the picture. PMD of course would reduce the value a bit. A planchet flaw would count as a minor error, but in this case not enough to add any value. The coin, if genuine, is KM9. It's a tossup for me. I see stuff here that says "fake" to me, and other stuff that looks kosher. PS- for a bulk lot find, it's pretty cool. Even if it turns out to be fake.
Thank you for ALL comments. I do not know if it has been cleaned or polished. I would believe the H has been damaged (PMD). It was confirmed to be of some silver. I stay away from coins like these because of counterfeit warnings.
I started out strongly in the "fake" camp, but the more I go back and look at this, the more I lean toward it possibly being authentic. Though I still don't know about that wonky "-10" in the date. I'd certainly have been much more suspicious- and highly so- were this a big piastre coin of this type. But since it's a minor (smaller) denomination ...? I will defer to those with more specialized knowledge of the type.
Ahha, you're right. I didn't even look at the rest of the coin. Once I saw the date there was no doubt in my mind that it was fake. @lordmarcovan from what I've seen, the smaller denominations, 10/20 cents are as commonly faked as the piastres