Two Mexican Coins

**waiting for SwamperBob to enter the topic**

Yes, chop marks indeed. Nice appearance to the coin, but it'd take an expert's opinion before I'd trust it to be real. What is its pedegree? Where'd it come from?

Thanks for all the feedback guys. As for the pedigree this was in a coin collection that I inherited from my grandfather. He died in 1982 and the family story is that my grandmother "lived off the collection" for years. After we had to put my grandmother into a nursing home we were cleaning out the house and we found what was left of the collection. Nobody else in the family had any interest at all, so I decided to take it home. I tucked it away and it has been all but forgotten for the last 10 years or so. I dusted it off a while back and thought I would make an effort to try and get these coins to people who would appreciate and enjoy them more than me having them packed away in a closet somewhere. So as long as my grandmother didn't buy the coin, which I assume she wouldn't have, then this coin has been in my grandfathers collection since before 1982.

Accurate weight and measurements? Right now I do not have the tools to provide those, but maybe I will have to pick myself up a scale and post my weights.

Thanks for looking guys. Should be a fair number more world coins to come as I wade through the collection.

The 1885 Eight-Reales from the Mexico City mint is genuine. It is one of the second republic trade coins which did not circulate in Mexico but was an export vehicle for silver from Mexican mines. By 1886 the dies were very close to standardization so very little deviation is expected. Coins of the first republic are far more variable and the standards used for authenticating those are far more complex.

The counter stamps are typical of chop-marks seen on coins that circulated someplace in the far east. They were used to identify plated counterfeit coins.

Chops are NOT a guarantee of a coin being genuine. Some collectors consider them as post strike damage others collect them. But coins with chops have a narrower secondary market.

This coin exhibits "Dragon's teeth" small fine points between the two most central rays on the bottom of the cap. These are an anti-forgery device which did not work totally. Many forgers did copy them - however, large or uneven teeth points to a likely forgery.

The 5 in the date can be difficult for a novice to identify. But the shape is distinctive and different than the 6 used in 1886.

According to Mike Dunigan's book Resplandores the coin is common and is available in all grades. There are no known major varieties for the date.

The weakness near the perimeter is typical of an older die getting ready to fail. The metal is fatigued.

My final comment is about the edge. In the 1880's a power version of the two flat bar die edger had been installed at Mexico City allowing more than one blank to be edged at one time. This automated process led to many edges being doubled or tripled. That is what happened in this case. A similar edge on a coin from Mexico City in 1835 would most likely be a counterfeit.

The coin has a value of a few dollars over silver.

Hope that helps.

Here is the 85 and 86 to compare side by side

Jfransch thanks for that side by side comparison, that really does help a lot. Now I can make the appropriate changes in my Excel spreadsheet and try and make sure I keep everything in line with exactly what I have.

Swamperbob, that information is just great. The idea that this coin was minted in Mexico but meant to be used as a way to get value out of the country is fantastic. I don't just learn something new every day here, I learn 25 new things every day.

Harrision2, thanks for your kind words about the coin. I really do like the look of it and I think those chop marks make the coin just that much more interesting.

I almost hate to say this jfransch but the reason I am going through this collection is to liquidate it. I inherited the "left overs" from my grandfathers collection more than 10 years ago. It spent the last 10 years tucked away doing nothing but gathering dust which really is sad. I came to the realization that I am simply not a coin collector. I looked through the coins and realized that I needed to do whatever I could to get these coins into the hands of people, like yourself, who truly appreciate the coins. So right now I am in the cataloguing stage. I have to say, in the last four months of going through these coins I have learned a massive amount about them and it really has been enjoyable.

Once I get everything catalogued and organized then I can start looking into ways to sell them. Thankfully I am not in any kind of huge rush so I am taking my time and enjoying the ride.

Thanks again for your information, it really was helpful.

Thanks harrison2. Once I get things squared around enough to where I am ready to sell I will send you a message for sure.

Thanks again for looking at my coin.