This was a good week of hunting down contemporary circulating counterfeits with two new pickups. First: 1829 Zs 8 reales. Silvered base metal with mostly accurate details and a very well executed edge. This one is cataloged in Riddell's "A Monograph of the Silver Dollar: Good and Bad." (1845) as number 221. According to the expert (swamperbob) this is the most commonly encountered of the types cataloged by Riddell. Weight is low at 23.49 grams compared to reference weight of 27.07 for genuine coins. A couple of the easiest to spot diagnostics for this type include the shape of the 9 in the date, the eagle's broken toe and the dentils being made from short straight segments rather than curved ones. This gives the dentils more of a multi-sided shape rather than a smooth circle. Second: 18XX (maybe 1833?) Zs 1 real. Unusual in that magnetic slide testing shows it to be made of high purity silver and it also appears to be struck from crudely made dies. Majority of contemporary counterfeits of the cap and rays types I have seen are design transfers from genuine coins and are made of silver washed base metal. This one weighs only 2.86 grams against a reference weight of 3.38. Notable (and interesting) obverse characteristics include a slanted mint mark Z, the superscript S after Z, 10G and 20D have a dot above rather than below and the assayer mark is just an M rather than OM. On the reverse REPUBLICA appears to be spelled with a V and the CA in MEXICANA is combined into one letter similar to an old English AE. The edge is a rudimentary crescent or partial circle and dot pattern all around.
first one gives off he impression of a fake just by mushy details to me in center of coin (cap). Not familiar with this type. Dentils seem to be different sizes too. The second coin looks genuine. If it's a rare type or date, then maybe it's fake, otherwise it doesnt seem like a coin to fake. I mean, it looks like something you'd find in the junk silver bin
They are contemporary circulating counterfeits meant to pass as currency alongside the genuine versions. I believe you're thinking along the lines of modern forgeries meant to fool collectors. Entirely different animal.
I’m curious: how much can a magnetic slide test tell you about the silver content? The 1R is a small coin and the lettering can look awkward enlarged in a photo, but I’d still have said this one screams fake.
Not a whole lot, but just how slowly it slides can give you an idea of low vs high purity silver. Specific gravity would be a lot better, but I'm not familiar with how to measure that.
Hello Numismat - Have not communicated in some time. I am working on my book on CCC Cap and Ray 8 reales. I have decided to do it in two phases due to the size. I am asking other collectors if they would care to participate by adding any examples from their collection that I do not already own (or an improved grade) to illustrate the book. Do you know of others who might be interested.
