Greetings All, Need some help with this old acquisition of mein. I finally got around to examining this coin and found some curious markings on the reverse side. I am wondering if this coin is an authentic issue, contemporary counterfeit or a modern forgery. Please chime in. Thx, Joe Some Facts: Peru 1796 ME I.J. 8 Reales 26.2000 grams 39.3 mm 2.5 mm Security Edge: Dot Dash Dot etc... Catalogue Facts On the left: Chop Marks? On the right: Damaged Flan?
It looks good to me , I just wish there was more information on the die marriages on these . I have a few I wonder about too . Hope to hear from some who specialize in these .
If it's a fake I don't think it's a modern one . The chop marks look a little off , but nothing I can put my finger on . How does the 3rd side (edge) look ?
I do know the English set up a mint in China to mint exact copies with the same fineness , but they left it in Chinese hands who soon started to debase the silver until it was quite low . So it could be a contempory , I'll look up the dates to see if they match .
26.2 seems too low, even with the supposed wear. The chopmarks are not unusual to find on these coins, but they are often also used to make copies seem legitimate or contemporary. I think the date and some lettering looks a bit whacky. Also that the lettering is so close to the edge on both the right and left sides on obv & rev. And that cracking of the surface is a sign of a poorly prepared planchet. I believe it is modern.
et I have a couple with the same badly defined edges . On good pieces they're usually distinct , but then I have some Bust halves were the Fifty cents or half a dollar are shrunken and almost unreadable . I'd send it to ANACS for authentication .
The English made coins in Canton were dated 1778 , so yours isn't one of those debased Carolus dollars .
Just wanted to add: the reason I believe it to be modern is that if the chopmarks are from actual circulation, it means that merchants felt it was a good coin and gave it their chop of approval. These merchants were extremely savvy to differences in weight, ring sound, details, etc.
I noticed that to, but I have seen several styles of the lettering for the same year. Some have small indentations on the bottom of the lettering on the right side of the coin and none on the other, yet others are reversed. Also, many examples at a few coins shops of the same year and mint range from 27 grams for near perfect coins and as low as 26.6 grams for VF. I would place my example as Fine or Very Good with extensive edge wear. What do you think?
I'm still in the undecided camp . If it is a fake it's a good one . But there will always be a question with it unless you send it to be authenticated . I'd trust ANACS with that as they'd be the cheapest and are very friendly to deal with . If you're near a large show where they're at they'll look at it there and tell you what they think and whether you should send it in .
Check out the three I posted here: http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=237624 They are modern fakes.
Look like base metal fakes with a lot of weakness on the details . I'd love to see the edge (3rd side).
I would too, but not worth dropping over $40 for a study piece like this. Maybe if I see one going cheap I'll grab it.
Hi All, I posted this some years ago regarding the authenticity of this piece. I never got around to sending it out, probably do it this month. Just looking for further opinions. Please chime in!
Looks genuine but the edge is bad and the weight is low. It is possible metal was removed from the rims of a genuine coin making the weight off and the edge look C/F. My guess is genuine. Otherwise, it is a contemporary C/F and worth over $100! Sorry, I could not be more helpful. I suggest you post your coin on Coin Comunity Forum as there are more qualified experts on this series over there.
Take a careful look at the edge of your coin. The design was struck on a Castaing machine or something very similar in which a coin blank was passed between a pair of parallel dies. Two points opposite each other on the edge will show a section of overlap of the edge design. This is one of the best visual clues for genuine 8 reales as it seems the counterfeiters don't bother to duplicate this technique.
