1893 Peru Un Sol - Fake?

It is a Peru 1893 1 Sol, KM#196, 0,7234 ASW, ,900 fine. Meaning it is 90% pure .7234 oz. silver. A tad bit more than a US silver dollar. Melt value of @ $13.75. I didn't find a value chart but your coin looks to be in the XF40-45 range. Not tiptop shape but a nice keeper for sure. Yes it very much is silver.

If you feel doubtful,
weigh it. Genuine unworn examples check out at 25.00 grams.

Ping sound it against another genuine example.
A dealer may not have another Peruvian silver planchet, but many other dollar silver coins were struck with exactly the same planchet specifications. A dealer should be able to advise.

Take it to someone who has a hand held XRF instrument. Any bullion dealer who worth his salt should have one of these.
I have been lucky enough to see a hand held XRF instrument at a coin show, where collectors were getting their coins tested for free.


These pictures for me, somewhat of an unreliable diagnostic tool.
I have to admit I feel doubtful. It could be high quality centrifugal pressure cast, but I am not sure about that. Design details somewhat mushy, surface of fields seem to be a bit rough. Cast coins are very slightly smaller in diameter than genuine due to shrinkage on cooling, and edge graining a little less distinct. Edge dots are somewhat inconsistent.

Special attention to the consistency of letters

PERUVIAN REPUBLIC (REPUBLICA PERUANA)

Thanks for the answers.

@oriole: This thread actually led me to this forum. It seems strange to me that they seemed to use different alloys for the same kind of coin. Is this a common thing with older silver coins?

@sel_69l: The coin weigh 22g but I only have a kitchen scale so I don't know how precise this is. I don't really know where to find someone with an XRF but we use something similar at the university. I will try to ask my professor if I can do a PIXE and RBS measurement. I will try to find a coin dealer close. Maybe he can check the coin aswell.

@Dorado: The coin looks pretty similar to mine or do I miss some details?

@Lucky Cuss: Is their a way to verify if it's a modern forgery or a old one?

@TavoMi, the alloys should have been consistent in the 1890s. Especially odd would be to have iron in the mix.

However, the 22 gram weight plus the magnetism makes it certain to be a fake.

Just to give you an idea.. there are many more differences.

I had been away in Florida and missed this one.

This coin is not an exact march for the hubs used in the 1890s to make working dies for this series. Originals of this coin use slightly different fonts and the designs are much sharper. So it is clearly not genuine. In the 1893 era there is very little chance that a magnetic copy would have been made for circulation. At that date a silver counterfeit would have generated a profit with less likelihood of being discovered. World silver prices were in free fall and the value of the coin in circulation was much higher than silver value (on the order of 2 times.)

In my opinion this coin should be referred to as a Numismatic Forgery. It was made after the coin ceased to be used in circulation and was made to defraud bullion dealers. I classify bullion dealers and coin collectors in one large category. These were apparently made since at least the mid-1960s to sell along with genuine coins as bullion and as forgeries to fool collectors.

I plan to add a reply to my thread covering the Sols and half sols of the 1930s.