1797 I examined this fine-very fine coin with an eye loupe and what appears to be the tails-side is an image of a crown encircled with the date and reading that follows: MAG . BRI . FR . ET . HIB . REX The head-side reads: GEORGIVSIII DEI GRATIA I think this is some kind of british gold piece, but I really have no Idea what It is. Anyone share some wisdom please?
Sound like a half guinea or a guinea. But i should warn you that the vast majority of people that ask this question usually have a brass gambling counter that imitates the guineas. Can you post a picture, i could tell you 100% that way. If not can you tell me how wide it is in diameter?
Surely, it is approximately ~11.5mm in diameter, I can post a picture once the owner of the digital camera returns to the household.
Sorry i messed that up, you said a crown on the reverse that would make it a Third guinea, not a full or half. But 11.5mm does not sound good, cos a real one would be 17mm.
I'm dumb. I was actually using 16th of inches measurements instead of millimeters. Upon measuring it CORRECTLY, it is exactly 17mm in diameter on the nose. Attached are the best pictures I could take, sorry about the bluriness.
Hmm hard to see. If it's 17mm and it looks right on the design front, i realise the colour is off but that's quite probably because of the photo more than anything. I'm inclined to think it's a third guinea, if it weighs 2.8 grams then i'm certain it is the real thing. But as you said you can't weight it with the equipment.
I can't seem to find the fine balance anywhere Also, it's very difficult for me to have the camera hovering above the coin without my hands shaking slightly, which seems to mess up the picture royally. It also looks a lot "browner" in that photo and less golden for some reason than in actuality. Well, I'll try and find a balance to confirm things, thanks Sylvester.
Sylvester,that gold coin is most definitely a 1/3 Guinea or 7/- coin.Yes,I have seen a lot of the brass tokens.They are usually inscribed,'IN MEMORY OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS'.The brass pieces were actually used as card counters.I do have a brass piece advertising MacNiven Pens though.
a lot of the tokens/replicas ive seen are not inscribed to be fakes.The only sure way is to first do a gold test to confirm if its gold, then as the others said check out the size.
Gold test? Couldn't I just use an analytical balance to determine that it does, in fact, weigh 2.8g? It's already is the correct size for a 1/3 guinea as has been elaborated previously in this thread. Thanks.
Unfortunately, size and weight can conclusively establish that something is a fake, but not that it's genuine. If it passes the weight test, the next step is not to use any "gold test" which involves scraping or applying chemicals. Rather, it should be compared with a genuine coin - actual or in a clear, detailed picture - and if it passes that test, it needs to be seen by an expert.
Not always inscribed in Memory of the Good old days, but often it's the case. I've seen alot of fakes from this period, just cos it looks the part from what we could see, doesn't mean it is. I'm inclined to step cautiously in this area and not to build people's hopes up. The obverse was very blurred in the pic so i'm not going to say it's 100% anything.
*bump* Just as a quick note, I didn't use an analytical balance, but the top-loading balance did measure it at almost 2.8 grams.
"Almost" is a very relative term. What is the resolution of the scale on your balance? Not trying to rain on your parade, but if the discrepancy is more than a couple of grains (there are 15.4 grains to the gram), without a huge amount of wear you have a questionable piece.
