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 Replies: 41 / Views: 4,704 |
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Moderator
 Australia
16857 Posts |
If it's the right weight (and it is), then it isn't really "light weight" - genuine ones would feel like that, too. I'd assume it actually is genuine.
I've got old, thin, base-silver coins that "look and feel fake" compared to modern silver coins. It's just the way these coins are.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
I have one of these myself. The diameter on this is right, the weight is about right and the color is also right as far as I can see. I would not suspect a contemporary forgery here. Forgers at the time were not particularly good at replicating the images perfectly and this looks just right to the eye. However - I am no expert, so take that in mind.
As for supplementary metal the remaining 33% is copper. Nothing else was used at the time as far as my sources tell me.
As for value - my best guesstimate on what you can get here in Norway would be $300-$400. I would give $300 for one of these if given the chance and I am generally left in second place or worse when I bid.
Edited by Litotes
06/06/2008 06:37 am
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3499 Posts |
Litotes-$300-$400!? wow! I guess the market is really different here in the states. Honestly, I paid $15 for mine from a reputable dealer.
Sap- "old, thin, base-silver coins that "look and feel fake" compared to modern silver coins. It's just the way these coins are." hmmm interesting. I too have some old silver coins from the same century (though they are from England), but even the surface just feel different about those compared to this. As one rubs their thumb against the surface of a silver coin, newer or old, it just has that sort of "silver feel" to the texture of the surface. This coin just does not. But maybe I am just being overly critical of the coin.
Thanks, everyone, for your help! I'll take it to my dealer and see what he thinks, and I'll relay the verdict back to you guys.
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
$15? Incredible. The price for these have gone up pretty dramatically the last few years, three years ago you couldn't expect more than $100 for it (the dollar was also worth more then) but $15 is a steal for any period.
If the dealer thought the coin was Danish then that would explain most of the difference. Danish coins are much easier. Still, $15 for a Dane would be an excellent buy even several years ago.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Litotes- Heh, thanks for letting me know that I got a steal (if it is real!). Honestly it really just all depends on marketing. A lot of places in the US, no one cares about non-US coins, so dealers really try to discount them in 0rder to move them. As my dealer once said to me (since he knows that I'm one of only a few collectors of foreign coins in the area where I live) "If you don't buy it now, I'll have it for the next 20 years, so I might as well entice you to buy it by giving you a great deal."
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Sap- what other types of coins from this time period would also feel strange, just as my II Marck does?
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
Yeah, well - of course my valuation depends on it being real. But I would expect even a contemporary forgery to sell for way beyond $15. How much I have no idea, since I haven't seen any of this particular kind for sale - but there would undoubtedly be a market for it. I have seen several other old contemporary forgeries for sale and I cannot remember last time anything went for much below $50. This for lower denominations like 2 or 8 skilling.
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Moderator
Australia
16857 Posts |
Quote:
Sap- what other types of coins from this time period would also feel strange, just as my II Marck does? When I wrote that, I was thinking specifically of some 1/12 reichsthaler coins from Brandenburg, late 1600's, I picked up in a bulk lot of "mixed old foreign coins" at auction in 1997, back when I was a younger, greener collector. They're very thin, base-silver coins, about 24mm across. If they were real, they were going to be my first coins from the 1600's. They go "ping" rather than the "usual" silver ringing sound when dropped on a table, and felt like they're made of aluminium or plastic or something. Not "coin-like" at all. But worst of all, they're pink! Here's one I've just scanned, to show you what I'm talking about:   I mean, come on, pink coins? I seriously had my doubts about them. This was before the Internet Age, and my old Craig catalogue only went back to 1750. I had no way of even finding out what they were supposed to be except "German States" until I finally borrowed a 1600's Krause from a dealer and looked them up. The specs matched exactly; this one is KM# 571. So they're quite real. The pink colour is either the way these base-silver coins tone, or maybe mine may have been cleaned at some point, making them go an even odder colour than normal. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Litotes-wow, that is really a relief. And it is quite funny that a contemporary fake may be worth more than a real coin from that time (at least based on markets here in the US).
Sap- The "ping" of this coin, is it just sort of a flat, dull, short sound? What exactly is a "base-silver coin?" Just a coin with a high copper content with the balance being silver? sort of like a lot of smaller denomination silver German coins from the mid-19th century?
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
UPDATE - I have just come over a local auction for exactly this kind of coin. 2 Marck 1655 suspected to be made of tin. This coin, however, weighs in at only 10,32 grams. I will report back the result of the auction which ends 19th of July.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Litotes- REALLY!? because believe it or not, I finally had it weighed by the dealer who sold it to me, and it turned out to be 10.3 grams. So if the tin one is real (or a contemporary counterfeit) then this mystery may soon be finally solved! Thanks for the info.
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
Yes, really. Quite a coincidence that it should come so soon after this discussion (while I still remembered it). The auction coin looks similar both in colour and wear. So far, with almost four weeks left, the highest bid is $35.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Litotes- That is great! Is the coin being described in the auction as being a real variety struck in tin or as some sort of contemporary counterfeit?
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
Well, a direct translation of the text from Norwegian reads something like "POSSIBLE FORGERY, 2 marck 1655, appears to be made of tin. Weight 10,32 grams". In other words, they do not know much more than you do - they have a coin which does not feel like other silver coins.
The seller is a Norwegian auction house which specializes in stamps but also take what they can get of other collectibles.
The bid is now raised to $40, by the way.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
Litotes- thanks for this info! Please keep us posted with regard to further developments.
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Replies: 41 / Views: 4,704 |
First Page
Posted 06/06/2008 06:33 am
