Sheffield Plate Counterfeit 8 Reales

The column has some wear and the punch mark on the column exposes the copper core. This is an early Sheffield because it uses the DARK core metal.

I do take direct orders at my PO Box address and will sign all copies and include the discs with Hardbound copies at $150. The softbound book I can also procure from Amazon and re-sell at their price signed. For an added $15 I can add the discs - (Book $40 - signed - with discs $55) postpaid to anywhere in the US.

Address right now:

Robert Gurney
PO Box 337
Angier, NC 27501

Address shortly (sometime in December):

Robert Gurney
Swamperbob Associates
PO Box 435
Hope Mills, NC 28348

austrokiwi What you are referring to as "Old Sheffield Plate" is what I am calling Sheffield plate. It is the hot or cold welded method of applying a silver alloy layer (mechanically) to a core of copper that developed in the 1770s and virtually disappeared after 1850. What you are calling "Ordinary Sheffield plate" is electroplating which uses a totally different (electro-chemical) process to deposit pure elemental silver on copper. There is no connection between the Sheffield area of England and the development of electroplating. Referring to electro-plate as Ordinary Sheffield Plate sounds like a "marketing" term to make the cheaper electroplate more commercially desirable.

I am of the opinion that using "Sheffield" in relation to electro-plate is technically incorrect.

Genuine silver plating using the Sheffield process was also used in counterfeiting as is one method of determining the age of a counterfeit. Sheffield plate uses silver alloys that can be matched with the coin. For 8 Reales the silver layer is typically 90% silver and 10% copper. This means the finished product has the correct color. Pure silver deposited by electro-plate is a slightly different color and microscopically thin. The color was one feature that made Sheffield plate superior to electro-plate. The coins looked correct next to genuine coins. The other was the thickness of the plate - it took time to wear off.

At this point it is logical to ask why a counterfeiter would be concerned with ability to wear? It is a legitimate question because most counterfeiters are viewed as only needing their coin to pass ONE TIME. That works for most small criminal counterfeiters. It does not work when the purpose is a longer period of circulation to allow a market to be flooded with near perfect copies.

The drop in world silver value in relation to labor costs is what forced counterfeiters to adopt electro-plate. A copper coin could be struck first and then electro-plated in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost of the Sheffield Plate versions. It was an economic decision and it dominated the world in the last half of the 19th century.

Thanks. That was my bad on the electroplating. Just FYI in Ex british colonies and the UK anything that was chemically/electrically plated was often called "Sheffield plate" whether it came from Sheffield or not. I could be wrong but I don't think "plate" refers to the addition of silver but rather the goods made with the silver. What I mean is plate Silver ( as opposed to plated) was silver service cutlery etc.

Yeah right





well yes it is Thanksgiving

where is that tongue in cheek smiley face?