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 Replies: 11 / Views: 3,011 |
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Valued Member
Netherlands
202 Posts |
Hi all, I recently found these 2 coins in a lot of unidentified asian coins I bought. It took me a while to figure out what it was but apparently these are extremely rare. As my primary focus for collecting is US coins I took these two to a coin auction (near me in the Netherlands) to get them appraised and auctioned but the owner didn't want to auction them because he had never seen them before and couldn't authenticate them, He also said that if authentic they would'nt bring more than $250 together so to him it was not worth it to get them further checked out. I disagree with that price so I was wondering what you think of these coins regarding authenticity and grade (and maybe a possible value) 1 chon, diameter: 22mm, weight 3,73 grams 3 chon, diameter: 33mm, weight 9,02 grams Thanks for looking!      |
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New Member
Croatia (Locally: Hrvatska)
1 Posts |
They shouldn't be that rare by their story, but they kinda are much scarcer that one would expect. And not cheap, definitely more than 250 dollars/euros. 3 chon at least. My recently bought examples weigh: 1 Chon: 3.59g 2 Chon: 7.20g Since these were bought in the 30s by previous owner, I assume them genuine. Your two examples are a bit overweight, as I understood not much difference was possible, but other than that, just judging by the photos they seem to be genuine. I would bet on 1 chon, as it seen some circulation, a bit less on the larger piece. Since it's cast, it's harder to recognize a copy, so some imperfections on 3 chon like these lumps on 4-5 o'clock might be the okay. Didn't see many examples to return a final verdict though. Is enamel smooth on fingers? *** Edited by Staff - Please review the rules that you agreed to when you registered. ***Edited by natbaj
11/25/2016 10:25 am
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
489 Posts |
Hello there! I am a few months behind on this post but I may help.
I am an avid collect with tens of thousands of dollars in my Korean collection. Although I have a lot, I am technically no expert, but may be able to help some.
These look pretty authentic, but there is a huge "China" problem as fakes for these are all over the place; even ones with painted centers. These coins come in three-coin sets and can run a couple thousand dollars for the set in the higher end conditions. Current prices for the set are about 2,000,000+ Won (Nearly $2K).
These were only produced for nine months in 1882 (Gojong Year 19).
First thing you want to do is check the material of the coin. These are supposed to be silver coins and nothing else. The weight of the coin can differ. This is why in no official Korean coin pricing book do you see a weight for these coins; even in the 2017 Catalog of Korean Coins and Banknotes made by Poongsan. At our shop here in Seoul, one of the Daedong 1 Jeon coins weighs 3.4g and the Daedong 3 Jeon weighs 10.7. Even considering that, counterfeit makers will mix metals to make sure the density of the coin/weight is similar to the true coin. Silver density kg/m3 is 10500 while iron is 7800 or so.
Your characters are fine, although there are some slight differences in strokes. This is not necessarily a problem.
Your best bet is to test for silver. (Link removed)
Test if its silver! If it is, you have two A-M-A-Z-I-N-G coins here and you should never let go. The blue enamel is from the mint station it was made at. :)
Hope this information helps!
Edited by Lembafc
01/10/2017 01:45 am
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Forum Dad
 United States
24177 Posts |
Sorry Lembafc, but that article is terrible. As soon as I read #1 I knew it. Stamps are completely irrelevant. Counterfeiter stamp everything they make. When I read this.... Quote:
Use a chemical analysis if there's no stamp signifying it is silver on your piece. I stopped reading. I will be removing that link later in the day, we don't need newbies reading that and believing any of it. |
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Valued Member
Canada
117 Posts |
Edited by silverai
01/10/2017 12:48 am
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
489 Posts |
I will remove the link but I was more or less stating that he should just test it for silver. Why would the test looking for a silver stamp have anything to do with the coin. Ill remove the link myself but the logic still stands: If he can confirm its silver, then he has some amazing coins. :)
Edited by Lembafc
01/10/2017 02:11 am
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Forum Dad
United States
24177 Posts |
Sorry but that article goes out of its way to imply if it's stamped, it's legit. Couldn't be further from the truth.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5177 Posts |
If that's the link I think it is, it's mostly focused on sterling silver.
In which case, yes, if your spoon (or even ring) has a stamp saying it's .925 silver (or whatever), chances are it is, in fact, .925 silver or something similar, if only because spoons (and, to a lesser extent, rings) are not very commonly counterfeited in the first place.
(Mind you, if your spoon has a stamp that says 84 - I have one of those - that link wouldn't tell you that this is just a fancy archaic way to say .875 silver. I also have spoons that are stamped as both 84 and .875, fortunately.)
I'd rather not use an acid test on a valuable piece, and dropping valuable (especially higher-grade) silver coins to check ringing is also rather counter-indicated.
The safe way is XRF, which ironically doesn't appear to be mentioned in the article at all. But it's a bit expensive (along the lines of $30 per attempt, IIRC), and I'm not sure how it would react to that blue enamel, anyway.
And yes, today's counterfeit silver bars tend to be stamped anyway (at least, when the originals were, which isn't always the case).
This is less common for coins, but only because old silver coins rarely had silver purity stamps in the first place (even so, I won't be surprised if someone added fake purity stamps to their fake coins just to make them easier to sell to the more gullible noobs).
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
489 Posts |
Yes my apologies. I wasn't looking at it from yall's point of view, but I was simply telling him if its silver, then its legit.
You have amazing coins if they are real and they are worth thousands together.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
These were somewhat common 10 years ago. But today these are quite scarce and when they do appear in the market, they command serious prices. I have been collecting Korean coins for a while and I admit I missed my opportunity while I could have. As far as I am aware, because these were cast coins, it was difficult to maintain coins within similar Weight Tolerance. I personally prefer machine struck coins. These silver cast coins actually do represent some sad history. In the past, the public had serious doubts with cast circulation coinage as high quality copper coins were melted down and was reissued in cheap brass metal, thus making it worth less in melt value. The silver cast coins were an attempt to fix the public's misconception however this mistrust never died up to the early 1900s. Nickel copper coin was the worst - leading it to the first type to be completely demonetized in 1909 before other coins. Only mad people would attempt to destroy coins to test for silver. This is not the kind of advice one would give for valuable coins. For counterfeiters to use silver as raw material is perfectly acceptable as long as they can make a fortune on it. |
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New Member
Korea, Republic Of
1 Posts |
Hi! Apologies if this isn't appropriate to post in the thread. I just signed up so I can't DM yet.
I live in Korea and have actually been building a collection of these since the history around them is fascinating! I agree that they both seem legit based on what I've seen in my own research and you're lucky to have come across them the way you did!
Rules related to buying and selling. As a new member you are not allowed to do either-echizento
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Valued Member
Korea, Republic Of
489 Posts |
@Erik Lonnquist, hello! I also live in Korea and have been here for a decade (this coming August). If you are interested in the coin scene here, shoot me a message and I will shoot you some information.
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Replies: 11 / Views: 3,011 |
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Posted 01/09/2017 05:33 am
