Speravi 1755 X Coin

My gut feeling is Portugal, but the GEIERR part confuses me. I can't seem to get anywhere with that. Maybe it's a token or medal of some type. I agree with Grace, Sap is the man for this one.

The reverse design, has a two none facing heads of eagles with their tounges out, with a small cross between them, and a shield in the middle, then at the bottom, two hands each holding a different looking sword, with feathers on both sides, with a small "K" at the beginning of the "SPERAVI 1755 X IN TE DOMINE" and a small "B" at the end of it.

Thank you Sap
Unfortunately I am not able to post the pictures, but I will as soon as possible, unless I retire soon from this hobby as it is as exciting as hectic for me, as I do not have professional help around, but this forum has been giving me a real support.

The first side of the coin is exactly like the one you have posted but the reverse, it shows the small cross in the exact place and size like the second coin you have posted, and the "K" and "B", they are not in the same positions like in your picture neither the wording. Again I guess I have a fake and a real bad one.

Hope soon I will be able to post the pictures and then you can assist me more.

Thank you very much

quote:

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Kremnitz/Kremnica (and the mint http://www.mint.sk/) is in Slovakia.

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The list of Austrian mints in the 17th century Krause puts Kremnitz in Hungary. I suppose it was technically in Hungary at the time, but it sure isn't anymore. It didn't sound quite right when I wrote it, but I didn't double check my facts. My bad.

I don't really see anything wrong with that one, authenticity-wise. The position of the mintmarks is different to most of those pictured, but I don't know how important that is for this series. It does seem to have been mounted at some stage, with those marks above the emperor's head, and below his chin. That will reduce the grade, and value.

I still can't be sure which denomination it is. How big is it? It doesn't actually make much difference to the value; with the wear and mount-marks, I'd only grade it Very Good, and both the thalers and half-thalers catalogue at around US$30 to US$40 in that condition.

That one looks fair enough to me, too. I'd grade it Fine, CV $110 in my book. These coins don't have mintmarks in the conventional sense; the small shield right in the middle of the larger shield is the effective mintmark. This coin is Vienna mint, the only mint listed for this type in 1755.

Ah, another thaler, 1821V, KM#2162, CV proabbly $40 to $50 in that condition - maybe less. It's quite worn (either Good or Very Good condition?) and then there are those lines across the portrait side from top to bottom. The "V" mintmark below the head is for Venice, the city now in Italy, and is slightly scarcer than coins of the larger Austrian mints.

I must say, I'm a bit more skeptical about the authenticity of this one. The colour looks a bit greenish, and it looks... fuzzy... in places where it shouldn't. It could have been buried or something else strange happen to it, I suppose. I'd want to check the weight on this one.

Please understand I'm by no means the last word in establishing genuineness or fakeness of these coins. I'm just making an educated guess, based on photographs. You have the coins in hand, so you're in a better position to judge than I am. If at all possible, get a balance or scales that can weigh to 0.01 gram accuracy - you'll find it a most valued tool to check authenticity of a coin. They even make portable ones you can take with you when you go coin shopping, though I'm not sure using one would be considered a polite thing to do in your culture.

The right weight doesn't mean it's real, but the wrong weight certainly means it's fake. This coin, for instance, should weigh 28.06 grams when newly struck - the standard weight of a thaler. Even a very worn example like that one shouldn't lose more than a few percent of it's mass.

Finally, consider the source. If you find someone selling fakes (like those Chinese dollars), then any other coins they sell are suspicious, too, even if they look all right. Guilt by association.