Newbie here....I have been collecting coins since I was a kid with no purpose or expertise other than, "I just like the way that coin looks". I cant remember when or where I got this coin but it is an old "416 one yen 900" coin that is probably a chinese copy but how can i tell? I took a couple of pictures for help. Thanks
I am not really familiar with the specific diagnostics of this coin, but it looks like a cast counterfeit. I can see some small bubbles in the denticals at the edge, that is a telltale clue. The edge would be the area to look at to tell conclusively.
This is a blow up of the image that you provided. See the small bubbles in between the denticles. This is caused by small pockets of air trapped between the genuine coin and whatever was used to cast the coin. Like I say, I am no expert on these coins, I expected someone else to chime in. Really, the best way to tell if it is cast is by looking at the edge. Can you provide an image of the edge of the coin?
There are tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of fake Chinese "silver" coins floating around these days and this is one I've seen on numerous occasions. Upon first impression this screams base metal knock off. Even if it does not have a casting seam, this does not mean much since many are die struck. Most are very poor, low quality "coins" (I assume) intended as easy pawns since few are familiar with Asian coinage.
