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 Replies: 8 / Views: 2,037 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
739 Posts |
Firstly forgive me as I have no resources on these coins, and do not wish to be ridiculed by certain members, so only wish to receive, how shall I say, non aggressive and informative responses and comments on this "coin". This 1755 8 Reales came as part of a job lot of scrap silver I purchased. (I really only wanted the scrap) Thank you in advance. Weight 27.15 gms on my scales ? Diameter I make 38mm +ish.     |
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Pillar of the Community
France
1591 Posts |
Actually, you'll be lucky if that one has that much silver :)
That coin is clearly a fake, with the typical "made in China" style.
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
739 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
MathieuMa- Although I definitely have some guesses as to the indicators of this being a fake (the edge is quite off, for one), what other features do you see that scream fake?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1801 Posts |
Guatemala pillars are notoriously hard to authenticate due to the much lower production standards accepted at that mint. Most "G" Pillars are somewhat crude looking, especially the early years. Personally I would pass on this coin due to incorrect fonts on several key letters, mushy details in the pillar yet high detail in "PLUS" and "ULTRA" which usually are the first things to wear off. The edge is just odd period. I think MathieuMa is correct in his diagnosis as a modern Chinese Counterfeit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1962 Posts |
Wishes are for genies...
"What other features do you see that scream fake?" Indeed, inquiring Asian minds want to know, so they can help make our collections more perfect...
Roughly a $1000 coin, give or take, if genuine... but as stated, this is a ubiquitous recent China fake. There are things wrong for the specific type (pillar 8R... Guatemala mint... early), and generally wrong for any piece of this vintage. I'd offer that various threads over the past few years on here discussing 8R, pillar-type and otherwise (AND fakes thereof) have at various times noted features and issues you're seeing on this piece... Beyond that, I'd say a study of this vs. known genuine examples (check auction archives) would address characteristics specific to Guatemala pillar 8R. Guatemala pillar pieces are scarce to rare, and often crude as noted (though I'd say some of the 1760's issues may actually be cruder)... but if nothing else, they're rather distinct in style. Look at enough of them and you can get a good feel for the series.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
realeswatcher- Yes, I certainly agree that we don't want to let the counterfeiters know how to craft better fakes. But some of the details mentioned by jfransch were what I noted- weird edge, improper and irregular font, mush details all over, and the sharpness of the PLUS and ULTRA are despite other parts of the pillars being seemingly much more distorted and faded.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
739 Posts |
Thanks for all the info but one last question Quote:
Actually, you'll be lucky if that one has that much silver :) Just tested with silver testing solution and its positive so are some modern (chinese) fakes still made with silver ? |
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Pillar of the Community
France
1591 Posts |
Yes, chinese fake have silver indeed. They usually sell them as collectible coins, which are way higher than silver price.
Most of the time it's recycle / mixed silver, you don't have the regular content that the coin should have. SG test can determine the purity of the coin.
As for why it's wrong; well ... I'm used to check those, and that one was screaming wrong.
The edge, the patina, the field and coin surface, the way it's lightly struck, details which are not sharp, overall design which is a bit off.
As stated earlier, the best is to compare it to genuine coins (check out ha.com or stacksbowers.com archives for example) - the only though thing being the rim : no auction house take picture of those (unless you request one ...)
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Replies: 8 / Views: 2,037 |
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Posted 09/14/2013 3:08 pm
