1762 Carolus III Mexico Spain 8 Reales - Fake Or Not?

Thank you for your opinion, will get my money back. ebay is the great source of these fakes.
(the price of this fake was $78)

I bought a such copy a while ago, before knowing what I was doing ...
I'll gladly mail you mine if you want :)

Not sure if that works, but you can PM me your address :) (or mail me from ebay - user mathieuma)

As you wish, but you'd better get a refund - I'll send mine for free :)
They usually accept, as they don't want to have bad ratings appearing on their profile.
One of them even told me to keep the coin (it was a common faked cob)

I have received the 1762 8R from MatthewMa (Thanks!). I tried to write but your preference indicates you do not want to receive email. I would like to discuss the Pistareens.

The coin is as I suspected a transfer impression made by a photographic process. The details are well copied but in a few instances (particularly on the edge at high magnification) there are actually traces of shadows that were etched into the die. These appear as faint outlines parallel to the main die elements similar to die erosion ghost effects BUT dissimilar upon close examination. They tend to rise to very sharp points (ghost erosions are far shallower with low slopes). I also noted the presence of grinding around the entire perimeter on both faces as I suspected from the earlier photos.

It is a modern Chinese copy BUT better than most and improving. These could even fool dealers who are not too familiar with the type. Quite dangerous.

The 1762 Spain 8R fake (or perhaps several varieties thereof) is RAMPANT on ebay... you see them primarily from Spain and the Philippines.

I've seen them go for almost what the real thing should fetch... I simply can't comprehend how people that naive even have access to hundreds of dollars to spend on such things... Are they all great-grandchildren of the robber barons or something?

Since the Pistareens have come up again, I decided to express my opinion here and do a follow-up with MathieuMa if needed.

They are all forgeries.

One is too light in weight at 5.9 grams. This coin is dated 1765 Mo M. This one has a fairly clear trace of an edge seam. The coin itself is a pressure cast made using a transfer mold. I believe the host was a real 2R so the design appears correct in the details. The problem is first of all the weight. Far too much detail remains for a weight of only 5.9 grams. The correct weight is 6.77 grams - which equates to a loss of 0.87 grams or over 12 % of the original weight. ANY 2R worn to that level should be FLAT with virtually NO DETAIL AT ALL. Beyond that is of course the trace of an edge seam and the grinding marks on the edge noted elsewhere. The coin also has the surface features common to pressure castings. They pick up all of the surface features of the original but with some loss of transitional details.

We have discussed in the past how the transitions between punched details and the field should be SHARP unless there is evidence of excessive die erosion. There is no die erosion present but the transitions are rounded pointing to a cast transfer step. This feature never shows well in pictures so I did not try.

The other two coins dated 1745 and 1755 both supposedly from Mexico City with Assayer M are just over 6.90 grams each. That is simply TOO HEAVY. Both coins show apparent wear to VF levels - and I would estimate that an MS version (pre-wear) would tip the scales at just over 7 grams. That is just over 3% heavy and is outside an acceptable normal range - especially for two examples0les coming from the same source. These two coins also show casting traces identical to the 1765.

So it is clear to me that a nice 3 decade, 3 King set of forgeries does in fact exist and they are being made in China. The coins ring fairly well but short duration. I could not get an accurate SG because of air clinging to the coins (and the size of a 2R which is never great for SG anyway. BUT based on physical dimensions I suspect copper nickel alloy. They are cast so any form of silver plate is ruled out.

These coins are executed well enough so that the average Novice will have problems. They are copied from actual coins and they use all the correct design elements. It used to be that the Chinese made rather obvious errors - wrong King or wrong assayer initials or poor designs on the edges - BUT things are changing and these coins are dangerous.