Found this one today. It's crude and underweight at only 8.13 grams. First counterfeit I've seen of this type. Surface color is about in line with genuine examples, so I'm guessing it has some copper in there. Any non-regal collectors around here?
Interesting. A guy walked in with two morgans the other day. Not sure what the authentic one was, but the other one was a 1892-S contemp. I weighed it on the scale and it only weighed around 25 grams. Didn't have a magnet, but I'm sure that it is not silver. Very interesting piece. I offered him 40 dollars for both. Not quite sure what to do with it. Will post pictures tommorrow (on this thread). Cool looking cent btw.
Thanks, but please start a separate thread for your coin. I posted this one to hopefully find out more about it, not to start a discussion about counterfeits in general.
Where did the East India Company mint its coins? Is it possible that certain runs of the coin were underweight, not due to counterfeiting but due to variance at different locations?
I don't know where they minted them, but the weights for the large 1 cent coins were pretty regular all the way into the 1900's. It's also a crude strike with incorrect details. If this one's not a counterfeit, you can whack me over the head with a large fish.
Thanks for the comparison pic. On my coin the portrait has a bulging Adam's apple, so it's not Queen Vickie, it's just some old-timey dude in drag. Gives a whole new meaning to "non-regal". :yes:
Hi Numismat, I am TP from Singapore, a collector of errors and counterfeits, may I know is the coin for sale? Email edited out for privacy, please use PM communicatrion. Also any buy sell trading not allowed in general forums. Thanks.
looks like a bombay mint example, they were minted in two centres the royal mint in london and the bombay mint. i have seen many examples of this coin over the years and there are two definite types. the comparison coin is from the royal mint BTW.
Do you have a picture of a Bombay mint version by any chance? It seems unusually crude even for that place and time period.
the "adams" apple on the queens head looks like it is a flaw on the flan rather than a deliberate error............what is interesting on a closer scrutiny is the inner line on the obverse,
Examining it closely I can say for sure the adams apple is not an error, but a design element. The portrait has extremes in high and low profile... the adam's apple being unusually high in profile, and areas like the valley right above the adams apple, above the band below the pony-tail, and especially between the nose bridge and eye being unusually low. Also, the nape of the neck is way too long. The circular line looks like a standard die crack.
a real conundrum of a coin, is it a fake or just a poor quality strike? i am still leaning to the latter but who knows?? without seeing the coin in hand i can;t really say which one it is but it is interesting all the same.
This looks like it has the detail of a cast counterfeit that's been very well worn. Probably changed hands as genuine many many times.
I'm having trouble figuring out if the coin actually has significant wear, or was just made that way... I kind of see evidence for both. Well I'm glad you guys found it interesting as well. =)
I'm bumping this old thread since I found it on a google search when looking for info on a coin I have. It looks to be the same variety 1845 Straits Settlements / East India Company One Cent. I also think it is a contemporary counterfeit. I made this comparison photo to demonstrate the differences.
Since I originally posted this thread I've seen a couple more examples of this same piece. It's indeed a contemporary circulating counterfeit
I have what I've finally decided is a counterfeit: Obverse: VICTORIA QUEEN Reverse: EAST INDIA COMPANY / ONE CENT / 1884 (!!!) Clearly a crude re-engraving of the Straits Settlements Cent of 1845. My example is different in many details from the photos above, which indicates the coin has been re-engraved several times. But why the obviously fake date?