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 Replies: 16 / Views: 2,239 |
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Pillar of the Community
861 Posts |
Get a magnet....if the coin sticks to the magnet, than it's fake.
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New Member
 United States
5 Posts |
thanks for the replies folks
its not magnetic, I tried that, should have mentioned it. The rust is not from the coin but part of a nail or can or something it was laying with that adhered to the surface...
It seems to me to be lead with a silver gilt...
Edited by Tigue710
01/03/2013 10:15 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3755 Posts |
Well, if it is lead you should be able to easily bend it. Given the way it is flaking and the like, I am thinking a fake of some sort.
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
didnt think of that... it will not bend easily... tin maybe? I'm stumped...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
Are we seeing the effects of tin pest here?
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Pillar of the Community
861 Posts |
I believe the coin is real. All the diagnostics are correct and the wear pattern is consistant with a dug coin. Probably worth silver melt value.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36903 Posts |
I think this one might be genuine also. Looks like it spent many years in salt water.
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Valued Member
Canada
271 Posts |
When I have something rusty, I put it in lemon juice. I am also a bottle/can collector and it works with them, I've never tried with a coin. I would imagine that if the coin was real, it would be fine.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
What does it weigh? (Grams to 2 decimals if possible) I suspect it is real and there is something else on the coin which is flaking off.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1721 Posts |
I have dug silver coins and brass items where it was buried next to a piece of iron and over time the two have fused together.
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
I only have a postal scale, it weighs 12 grams on that, but that's not much help... I originally thought there was a layer encrusted on the coin flaking off until I discovered the thin layer flaking off also had most of the detail of the coin in it... Its like the outer layer of the coin is coming off in a thin skin, about paper thick... an 1849 Franc I dug close by to this coin is sparkling new looking, although the layer this coin came out of is burnt while the franc was not...
I've still not ever seen silver flake off in layers... I've seen pitted, but flakey?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1721 Posts |
Is it possible the pit the coin and bottles came from was a fire pit? The obverse looks cooked. I have also found that different soil conditions produce different results on assorted metals.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1704 Posts |
Quote:
Is it possible the pit the coin and bottles came from was a fire pit? It does have the surface characteristics of being significantly overheated. Ed ANA LM-3175 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36903 Posts |
mds308 might be on to something, being in a fire is very possible.
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New Member
United States
5 Posts |
Thank you for replies everyone. It was likely burnt, I'm digging out the remnants of a burnt building, which has trash in it, and ash that was thrown on top as refuse after. Its also possible that there was a fire pit in the spot this was recovered from that was used by a cooperage... it was in the ash in the left of the brick in this picture. The loose brick you see is from a gold rush era building torn down in 1902, that stood in the front of the lot. There was a wooden addition built on the back, which had the fire pit for the cooperage and there are also signs that a building burnt here although it was likely from the early gold rush. The brick structure you see in the ground is a set of steps that led up to the back door of the wooden building, and the ash the coin came out of is either from this later addition burning or ash thrown out the back door along the side of the steps... With it were a few other items like a harmonica, a bottle, a large brass key and lots of thick rusted metal... Its hard to say whether the coin was burnt or lost here... the key and bottle are not burnt, and I have no records of any fire after 1856...  Edited by Tigue710
01/05/2013 3:49 pm
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Posted 01/03/2013 10:14 pm
