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 Replies: 8 / Views: 2,065 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
The coin has the following properties: ~20% underweight, non-magnetic, seems to be unusually thin w/ plain edge, has a clay-like residue in crevices. I will attempt to upload images.   *** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. *** |
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Moderator
 United States
34413 Posts |
@otto, first welcome to CCF! Second, I'm going to recommend to the mods that they move your thread slightly as this area is more for showing varieties or errors. While a coin might be underweight if it was struck on the wrong flan at the mint, in this case, I am going to guess that you have a fake. Others will be able to weigh in more. In the meanwhile, it would help if you can post the diameter and mass of your coin. While you are at it, it probably is worth posting a pic of the edge of the coin too.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1326 Posts |
Hi. Thanks for responding. The coin is 26 mm wide and weighs 5.4 g. I'd post a pic of edge if I had a camera capable of it. It is smooth and unadorned.
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Valued Member
United States
309 Posts |
This coin looks good to me. I'd say it had environmental issues from being buried in a red clay soil. It is 1719, Philip V, Segovia, "J," and I see no obvious "red flags." Remember it takes five of these to equal a Spanish Colonial piece of eight. This is equivalent to a twenty-cent piece, not a quarter dollar. The only issue is that the weight is a bit light from tolerance. If you said it weighed 5.8 g I'd be happier. What is the precision of you scale?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
I work at a high school and used one of the science room scales. I got consistent results from 3-4 different scales. Thanks for your feedback.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
I should add that I found a second weight spec on Numista. It says 6.13 g compared to NGC 6.77. So the coin may not be as underweight as I thought. The coin is the correct diameter of 26 mm. It's ironic that the ebay seller had about the best return policy you'll ever see, but I was too slow on the draw. I'm hoping that the coin, if not real, is at least an interesting and collectible forgery. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1962 Posts |
As was wondered about in this recent thread about this type: https://goccf.com/t/262038The weight Krause gives for this period of Spain 2R reflects a sort of fictional idealized legacy weight that was no longer reality. From the 1680s, the Spanish crown started monkeying around with the intrinsic content of the homeland coinage. From that time up into at least the 1730s, the milled 2R in reality bounced around from a max of almost 6.0g as low as maybe 5.0g... So, there was a great range, but what they definitely were NOT was no longer anywhere near the old standard about 6.8g prescribed weight. This includes the late 1710s/early 1720s dates which circulated so heavily here (esp. in the South). After, say, the 1730s or so, the prescribed weight for the later date shield 2R and the following bust style through Ferdinand VII clearly settled at just about 6.0-6.1g weight of an apparently slightly lower fineness than the traditional ~9/10... .812 or thereabouts is usually what is quoted for the Ferd VII, Charles IIII issues. For a bit more, see this old thread: https://goccf.com/t/143808Or better yet, this article focusing on the type (particularly its use here). The weight debasement is referenced several pages in: http://numismatics.org/wikiuploads/...stareens.pdf |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1962 Posts |
It should also be noted that there were/are indeed many contemporary counterfeits of this type... Most are easy enough to tell apart; this is not one.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
Thanks so much realeswatcher. I'll certainly read articles/threads when I have more time.
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Replies: 8 / Views: 2,065 |
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Posted 06/05/2016 11:04 am
