Maria Theresa 1918 Thaler ID ?

Thanky you, swamperbob and svslav.

The use of silver to make forgeries is a favorite topic of mine. I have been doing research on that subject for decades. I first heard about counterfeiters making coins using the correct weight of silver around 1960. That was in relation to the manufacture of counterfeit 8 Reales and Morgan dollars. The 8 Reales were made for the China trade because the Chinese paid a 30% premium over silver content for 8 Reales. The dollars were made to pass in the US.

It seems contra-intuitive that there was a profit to be made using the correct amount of real silver but it has happened historically and still happens in Numismatic forgery.

In the 1930's, a Dollar could be made for about 50 cents. There was only 35 cents worth of silver in the dollar at that time. Therefore a profit margin existed because the coin could be passed for $1. A profit of 50 cents on a dollar drove a significant cottage industry.

The same pertains to current Numismatic Forgery. As buyers become better at spotting the non-silver fakes, the forgers turn to real silver to avoid the problem.