1818 Om 8 Reales... Curious About It.

I'd remark that I'm not crazy about how bold the date is given the apparent state of wear overall. You're right to want to see the edge, and of course there's the standard drill of getting a weight and specific gravity.

Do you have a return privilege should it turn out to be a phony?

LWK The coin sends up no red flags based on the pictures at hand. The crack in the crown area looks like a typical crack found in original steel dies. It occurs in a stress area so no serious concerns there. I am not aware of a counterfeit with a crack in that exact position but I have not really committed all cracks to memory.

The fact that the coin is well worn contributes to the distortion of the lettering. Wear can blunt lettering if the coin was dropped a lot into a pile of change. (Think of a modern casino coin - not that this coin would have been in a casino.) The edge looks slightly rounded above the crown also probably wear related.

The fact that both sides have worn down (9 and 3 o'clock positions) when compared to top and bottom (12 and 6 o'clock positions) is a function of the width of the silver strip rolled from the fillet ingot. If a thin fillet is rolled into a narrow silver strip you can see slight tapers along two edges opposite one another. In some cases this feature CAN point to a counterfeit but poor quality control in the rolling step can do the same thing.

I would do weight and density measures as well as check the edge details for a proper application. But from what I see right now - it appears to be genuine.

Please post edge pictures weight and density after you get the coin.