Recent Pickup - Contemporary Counterfeit Chihuahua 8 Reales

Very nice pickup, threefifty!

I did receive your message and indeed yours is an interesting Chihuahua Cast 8R's. As with any exploratory work in counterfeits I do think we need to proceed slowly. Luckily I was wrong in that in the Mexican Numismatic Association Website for members only under the MNA Journals section of September 2013 my XRF study of Chihuahua and some later restrikes (i.e., post 1815) is present for your review and for any other MNA member. One thing I have noticed for typical MNA members is that anything that looks different is immediately a probable counterfeit and/or probably produced much LATER and is not of the same striking period. I guess this EASIER on the brain thinking this way - ALWAYS. This specimen however is crude as is my Specimen #3 and Specimen #3 did have surface XRF values performed which need to be used with caution due to some effects of silver surface enrichment as the outside corrosion layer of a silver copper alloy is almost always different than its core. In any case a triplicate surface XRF analysis yielded Ag (55.39% - 76.49%), Cu (20.13%-51.05%) however Au (0.31-0.33%) and Pt (0.72-0.78%) were as with so-called regal levels or other specimens of ~90% Ag and therefore the silver appears to be of the period. I have mentioned this several times and to Max Keech and Mike Dunnigan I have seen several (~ 3 specimens) and own one Chihuahua Cast Regal 8R with a PLAIN EDGE. So this cast making process during these turbulent revolutionary times may not always be 100% perfect without some anomalies IMO? Perhaps even the silver content at ~90%? Unfortunately I can not ZOOM-IN into my September 2013 enough to compare the pillar of Hercules but from memory it may be as crude/similar to this piece with this crude countermark which is very different. Suffice to say its a really crude piece similar to yours as the portrait strike is very weak and the quality is way off as compared to most others. It should also be noted that specimen #4 in my study had 90% Ag readings in triplicate but weighed only 22.9 grams. I suspect with a large enough database this 26.5 gram standard weight for Chihuahuas if there ever was one may not be much of any significance? So in conclusion - my Specimen #3 piece is as crude as yours IMO and is of a low silver and heavily debased with copper but the Pt/Au levels demonstrate it to be a probable period piece whether made by the Royalists or an outside counterfeiter. Just as some Chihuahuas have plain edges can some be debased with copper due to silver inventories not always being ADEQUATE? Specimen #4 in my study with 90% Ag in a surface triplicate analysis and its weight at 22.9 grams seems to suggest this premise. I am also working on a paper now for publication later this year on Monclova counterfeits possibly of the period. Just FYI.

Excellent. This article does explain why a counterfeit may exist for Chihuahua Cast 8R's and perhaps may explain why some may have plain edges if of a debased silver alloy? although they even had some degree of edging these pieces Its also interesting that other Zacatecas type counterfeits may exist. This may help explain some unusual Monclova pieces that I am currently writing about - in short 3/50 this is huge! JPL