I have recently acquired a possibly counterfeit Pre-Union penny made in South Africa, in 1898. As you will notice, there are many obvious differences and deformities. It also appears as if the Penny was plated in copper. I can’t understand why someone would make a counterfeit penny, however. This is a common year and such a low denomination. Any further information would be greatly appreciated. As for now, I’m scratching my head. BTW the weight is 9.31 grams!
Looks absolutely fine to me. Did You ever think that the issue on the date could just be some minting error or even a variety?
You said it best yourself - I don't know why someone would counterfeit a coin that wasn't valuable. They don't.
From your pictures it looks like it was cleaned but that might not be the case in hand. I agree with others though that there's no reason to counterfeit this coin.
Not sure why anyone would counterfeit to such a inexpensive coin. In gem grades they go for $125 see below https://www.ebay.com/itm/South-Africa-ZAR-1898-Penny-NGC-MS-65-RB-Scarce-Boer-War-4-Year-Type-Looks-Gr8/372753577095?hash=item56c9d83487:g:SFgAAOSwx2hdXu8m
Collectors don't tend to suspect low grade common coins as being counterfeit, especially if they look circulated or aged. If you could make a fake coin for $2 and sell it for $20, would you? If you could make 2,000 of them and sell them with no suspicion, you'd make a heckuva lot more profit than if you made a single $25,000 coin. That's almost guaranteed to get closely checked and found out. Now, I'm not saying that this coin is counterfeit - I really don't know a whole lot about South African coins. All I'm saying is that low value "common" coins are quite often faked, because they aren't questioned as much. You also have to consider contemporary counterfeits. I collect Moroccan coinage of the late 1800's - there aren't very many modern counterfeits, but there are quite a few contemporary fakes intended to pass in circulation. As for this coin, it has problems - it is either counterfeit, or it has been very harshly stripped and cleaned. The very harsh cleaning may alter the surfaces so much that it looks fake, but it's hard to tell from a single set of pictures.
I've posted this before: I have (somewhere) a counterfeit Buffalo nickel; clearly cast in lead. I don't recall the date or mintmark, but this wouldn't have ever fooled anyone. It must have paid someone to fake a nickel. Steve
I'm not seeing this alloy mixture at all. The reverse shows signs of cleaning, the lighter areas having been rubbed so hard they shine. The obverse was most likely plated with something that's coming off. This is a bronze coin and the colors and patterns do not present an alloy mixture issue. The lighting and uneven background certainly don't help with the determination, but I would caution against supporting this notion.
I am certainly no expert in general, and I know nothing about South African pennies. But if this were, say, a 1959 US cent with this kind of effect, most would say it was post mint damage, perhaps some kind of stain, or plating, that someone later tried to remove with only partial success. The broken 9 in the date is a common enough error type in coins so as not to raise any suspicion unless it were a marker for a known family of counterfeits.
Here is my 1898 ZAR penny for comparison. I can not see the details in the OP's photos well enough to form an opinion, however at first glance it does appear a bit damaged or cleaned.
Please use a different background, something either pure white or black. Also, please ensure you are using artificial light and not sunlight. And please take photos directly above and parallel to the coin instead of at angles.
Interesting thread. I agree the OP appears to be suffering from poor cleaning rather than plating. However, just to show that SA pennies were plated, here is one that was silver-plated - the plating has worn off considerably.
