the seller "guarantees" that its genuine, and lists the right weight and diameter. He claims its AU, and doesn't mention its fairly harsh bath. but so far it's within my "buy-a-fake" budget, and well below book value for a real one, so let's see what happens.
Looks genuine to me Roy. Cleaned and probably whizzed too judging purely by the side with the Gin, but genuine none the less (at least, I hope so). Go 4 it, and bon chance! Ian
A very good question Spencer. First of all, Ian and I apparently agree that we are looking at a whizzed coin which is either genuine, or an excellent copy. Krause values that particular coin, with the Osaka "gin" countermark, at $75 in XF, and the JNDA catalog value is considerably higher. Now, look at the feathery area on the obverse at about 9:30. I have never seen those fine lines with a crisp appearance on a cast copy. Then check out the denticles - which are regular - and the rims, which appear to be the correct width. Many fakes have problems with the denticles and rims. A large percentage of the yen coins temporarily demonetized in the late 19th Century by countermarking them in the Osaka (left side mark) and Tokyo (right side mark) mints also received from 1 to 10 or more chopmarks as they circulated throughout China and Southeast Asia, and this one has none. The great majority of these coins were cleaned, many harshly, on one or more occasions during the past 108-135 years; and many are seriously circulated. An uncleaned high grade example is very tough to find. As a result, an old cleaning is not the same disaster it might be on, for example, a CC Morgan dollar. Finally, the seller is in Japan, not China. He has 100% good feedback, but he's fairly new with a low total, so that in itself doesn't mean much. He does state the precise weight and diameter correctly, as part of his guarantee. Contemporary counterfeits frequently had the wrong diameter (over the years that this coin was minted, it had at least 3 diameters, within a range of about 1.1mm). Many fakes are several grams too light, but since a lot of them are made to weigh correctly by a judicious mixing of lead into the composition, weight can invalidate, but not authenticate, this issue. The best grade I can give to any Osaka countermarked coin I already own is an F (if I'm in a generous mood); so if this one is genuine, it will not only fill a hole in my date set, but also be a substantial upgrade to my type set. At the moment I'm high bidder at $15, with less than a day to go. That's well within my budget for counterfeit "study" pieces, so even if it turns out to be fake, I won't be in over my head. Anyhow, that's my thought process leading to the attempt to snag it.
Oh well. In the last few minutes three others, including two zero-feedback brand new EBayers bid it up to more than double my budget for interesting fakes, and I didn't want it that bad.
Roy, Pity. If you aren't going after it anymore, how about you post a link to the auction. I don't want to bid, but I would really like to see how this one pans out. I always get suspicious of no feedback ebayers suddenly appearing and bidding on an interesting coin. I'd like to see if there is any last minute bid retractions / shilling just as a matter of interest. Ian
Sorry to hear that Roy....but maybe it is best....maybe a better one is out there just waiting for you to find it!!! Speedy
