Half Sovereign 1888 - Fake?

Check it accurately for weight and comparative ring tone.
Gold is soft. If you are hesitant to risk rim damage to the coin, have a dealer do it for you.

Diameter should be exactly the same as a British, or British Commonwealth country sixpence.

A detailed comparative visual inspection against a known genuine example may also prove helpful. This is where a dealer can also come in, to help you with his experience.

Obverse rim denticles look a bit inconsistent.
Obverse color looks a bit 'off', but that could be due to the lighting conditions.

I am just going to throw this out there as an idea. Is it possible that this has been mounted in a ring with the portrait side outwards, leaving the reverse in a good state of preservation but with a bezel possibly squashing the denticals a bit on the obverse distorting them. This might also leave a mis-matched colour where one side has been exposed and the other hasn't?

I don't think they made an 1888 shield back 1/2 sovereign?

There is no listing for a 1888 half-sovereign in the Spink 2017 catalogue.

just been referring to:

Coincraft's 1998
Standard Catalogue of English and U,K.Coins
1066 to Date:

(716 pages)-( same size as a Krause catalog):
Page 465, listing VJHS-310, under Jubilee Head:
footnote 2:

"Possibly all forgeries"

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After this referral, my opinion is that this 'coin' is in good quality gold, and could well be in 22ct gold.
Accurately check for weight, because a 20ct gold 'coin' would be very close to correct weight.
XRF testing will prove to add extra knowledge.
If it were mine, I would have XRF done anyway, just for curiousity.

This piece very much a keeper, for self educational purposes.
Would still be quite valuable, just for the gold.

This 'coin' made privately for trade in the Middle East, for payment in gold.

Could be an altered date; the last two 8's look quite suspect to me, especially compared with the first 8.

Note the same design of crown on the head of Victoria as the same. That is the Imperial Crown.



Not a gold plated sixpence: the gartered shield for Victorian sixpences is a one year type for 1887, with the Imperial crown and so is of a different design. All other genuine Victorian Sixpences have crown over value, within wreath.
It is small wonder why the 1887 shield design after issue, was very tempting to gold plate, and why it is only a one year type.

Nevertheless,
The coin in question has a narrow garnished shield with a St Edwards crown, not the Imperial crown.
All Jubilee head Half Sovereigns should have the wide garnished shield with the Imperial Crown.

That is most probably the reason why the Coincraft Catalogue footnotes thus: "Possibly all forgeries", (as noted earlier in this thread).

Lateko,

Have you found out whether your gold coin is genuine or not?

I would like to know what you have investigated since this post was up.

Awaiting your results with much interest!!