Well, those who know me probably suspect the elephant token I posted is not genuine- just check the cert number! And this one may be a little "off" as well...
Jack, that is really scary. If that piece is bad, they have gotten their "art" down the inclusion of planchet defects, which are common on these coins. I detect that the lettering is not as crisp as it should be. I post pictures of this one which I bought over 30 years ago. Note that the lettering is crisp and clear although the centers are weak.
An altered date actually a minor problem compared with the Chinese counterfeits. At least you are getting something that is 200+ years old. As for the Connecticut coppers, I would be the last one to ask. One look at the Miller varieties and I get a headache. I have one for type, and that’s it. I’m done.
It’s not as impressive as some of the coins here, but it cost me a whopping $7 and it actually looks pretty nice, if a bit porous.
I'll bet you didn't expect to see any ancients in this thread, but since the term "colonial" refers to coins struck for a colony, and the Greeks and Romans had colonies of their own, well, here you go... Greece (Spartan colony in Taras, Calabria, Italy): silver drachm, ca. 302-281 BC (NGC XF; Strike 5/5, Surface 5/5) Roman Egypt (Alexandria): billon tetradrachm of Hadrian, ca. 117-138 AD; canopic jar of Osiris (Raw) Roman Egypt: billon tetradrachm of Hadrian, Year 15 (130-131 AD); Hadrian receiving corn ears from Alexandria (Raw) Mexico: silver 8-reales "cob" of Charles II, ca. 1665-1682, from the 1682 "Johanna" shipwreck off South Africa (PCGS Fine Details, environmental damage; wreck pedigree on label) Bolivia (Spanish Colonial): silver "cob" type 1-real coin of Charles II, 1694 VR, Potosí mint (PCGS VF25) Mexico (Spanish Colonial): silver 8 reales ("Pillar Dollar"), 1761-Mo-MM, Mexico City mint (PCGS AU50) French Colonies: copper sou of Louis XV, 1767, with post-revolutionary 1793 "RF" counterstamp (PCGS F15 host coin; counterstamp graded XF on label) Oh yeah, another Spanish Colonial cob, this one from Peru. I didn't own it long enough to get any decent pictures of it.
These British "South Sea" issues of 1723 are sort of colonial. Great Britain: silver South Sea Company sixpence of George I, 1723; double-struck mint error (second strike 25% off-center) (PCGS F12) Great Britain: silver "South Sea Company" shilling of George I, 1723 (PCGS MS63+; formerly NGC MS64)
I love showing off coins. Don't go to shows anymore and there are no clubs or anything like that in my area, so online is all I've got.
Considering the original is unique (i.e., there is only one, and it belongs to the Massachusetts Historical Society), then yeah, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that one isn't it.
Trust me, I'm jealous. I wish i knew 30+ years ago that there was this numismatic world out there. Now I'm 50, and i have to play catch up with you young whippersnappers, lol.
I've got five-plus years on you, whippersnapper. Of course I'm not yet quite the fossil that some of us are around here.
Yikes! I have to get used to thought that I'm not the "old man" around here, like i seem to be everywhere else i hang out, lol. My apologies, i always show the utmost respect to my elders, . I'll still be playing catch up, till the day this all ends, lol.