Are All Those Chinese Counterfeits Worth Nothing At All?

I can handle the nose, but those eyes are going to give me nightmares tonight (YIKES!). I think this coin is a serious contender for winning any ugly/freaky coin contest anyone wants to start at Halloween.

As for the other questions, I think since these coins sold for a buck there is going to be NOTHING in them of any value. As for a test for silver try an Internet search, I think there is some sort of acid that you can use.

These coins are centrifugal castings (aka pressure castings). The seam occurs around the edge of the coin but it is usually covered by the edge design application. The tapered ring die is the most common edging method but a reciprocal motor driven Castang like apparatus is also used. The edges are prepared by grinding off sharp corners and smoothing the edge.

Weight alone is of almost no value when judging coin alloys. Density rather than weight is what YOU NEED. Density is weight divided by volume. So if you have precise measurements you theoretically could calculate volume and estimate density. This was the basis of most counterfeit detecting scales. If you look at these old scales there is a slot that the coin must fit through tightly and a ring that the coin must also match. passing those two measurements a coin could be balanced against a standard weight to determine if it was bad.

The problem with measuring is that coins are not flat. The relief of the design and lettering makes calculation of density a VERY rough estimate.

That is why water displacement is used. The amount of water displaced by any object is equal to its volume in cubic centimeters. If the weight of the coin hanging in water is subtracted from the weight of the coin hanging in air - you have the volume of the coin simply by calling grams cubic centimeters. So the weight divided by the volume is density. Struck 903 fine silver has a density of 10.31. These GS versions are 8.9 to 9.0 in density. You can tell the difference with any decently accurate scale.

In any event the coins will contain NO elemental silver at all. I own over 300 varieties and not one has any silver in it. They are all simple alloys of copper, nickel and other metals like zinc or tin or iron. Some magnetic forms are actually pure nickel and are of some minor melt value. There are steel versions as well which rust but these are near worthless. As a general rule most are forms of German silver or Cupro-nickel.

The Chinese were the first to use this alloy which they called Paktong to make items that looked like silver. It was a popular import into England in the late 1700s and rivaled the cost of sterling when fabricated. Candlesticks were particularly popular. Today genuine Paktong antiques are VERY valuable. The Chinese kept the secret of making the metal to themselves. German scientists finally developed a similar metal between 1770 and 1823. In about 1830 they developed a very good imitation of silver which is why the name German silver is used today. Over the years many slight variations in the alloy have been made and there are a variety of names white copper, alpacca, Britannia metal, nickel copper, nickel silver, culver blanc etc. Forgers have recently (20 years or more) been calling it Chinese silver or Tibetan silver.

There is little melt value in these coins. I pay typically 50 cents each in large groups but will go to $1 for interesting new varieties.

Quality ranges from examples like yours to rather well executed forgeries with great detail.

If you could find someone interested in an ugliest fake collection I think this 'item' would be a highlight.

That's really funny

Ok thanks everyone (especially swamperbob and colonialjohn). I can see that I have set my sights a little too high for these. Seems like a cheap lesson and now I just need to see if I have 0%, 10%, or 20% silver content. Woohoo!

Yes good point. I've been thinking that sometime I should melt down all my "junk" silver alloy coins, remove the slag, and end up with cast bars that are reasonably pure. Alas, a project which will require time that I don't currently have.

Wow that coin is ugly.

I had no idea that Charles and Dianna were married 20 years after William I conquered England.