Yet Another 1770 8 Reales Question: Fake?

I found a"RARE" no dots 1770 8R on ebay going for the mind blowing amount of $20...

Since it looks just like mine I'm guessing this answers my conundrum?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-1770-8...AOSwdU1W9Tei

MCube78 Nice to know other folks are interested in 8 Reales.

Mathieu is correct about this being a numismatic forgery recently made by casting most likely in China. The edge you portray is a variety which I have seen many times before. It uses an earlier attempt to apply the lotus edge to the coin post strike. Your date of 10 years ago is about correct in this case. The design was cut as an outline into an edger die which usually is NOT CUT full depth to show any features on the upper surface of the lotus flower. On a genuine coin the lotus had a rounded surface indicating the edger die contained an actual full design. The forged edge is more like a cookie cutter - creating an outline figure only and leaving the center intact. It often shows evidence of grinding that was done to remove a central seal around the perimeter.

Over time the edge designs used in China have become a bit better and more difficult to detect.

The mottled surface I attribute to artificial aging of the coin. The alloy is often "nickel silver" an alloy that contains no elemental silver at all but is rather a variety of nickel and copper. It is not magnetic.

Since this coin was never intended to circulate as money anywhere in the world it should not be referred to as a "counterfeit". I know that this is a technical definition that most collectors are unwilling or unable to distinguish but it is extremely useful because it divides the valuable counterfeits from the trash. As a new comer to this website you have not been involved with these discussions, but you need to know about the difference.

Stacks, Bowers and Ponterio Auctions sells contemporary counterfeits in their periodic auctions and the value of these compared to numismatic forgeries is very well established. Older firms that specifically dealt with Mexican coins have made the distinction for decades as does the ANA. The rules of ebay however, make no distinction between the two categories of fakes and therefore they represent a small portion of US dealers only.

As a collector of ancient coins, I believe you should already understand the difference - it is like classifying a silver or gold fouree of one of the Twelve Ceasar in the same category as a crude replica casting made last week. They are simply not the same regardless of what ebay or anyone else says.

Be prepared to here they are "all the same" regardless of how unenlightened that point of view may be.

Once again welcome.