I do like a good crude contemporary counterfeit 8 reales, but I've been in search of a better looking example for a while that is more passable as genuine. I finally found this one that is relatively nice and is certainly counterfeit (weight 23.89 g, estimated specific gravity of 9.1). It looked good enough online that I worried it was a cheap modern copy, but upon closer inspection I don't think it is modern due to the test cut, apparent circulation, and presence of enough irregularities that seem to rule out image transfer. It seems that the coin is likely Sheffield Plate as the test cut shows a color change, but that's not definitive as it could theoretically be some kind of corrosion and the coin could be debased. The overlaps on the edge are at 180 degrees, but one is much longer than the other, and the edge also has the "squared circles" problem.
I had a couple of questions that I wanted to get the forum's opinion on if you had a moment:
- There are certainly irregularities with the fonts vs. regal fonts ("I"s are not consistent across the coin, date does not match regal font, spacing is irregular throughout the coin) but as a whole it looks pretty good. The king's portrait also seems to be a very similar to the regal portrait, though the nose is a bit large. Because of this relatively high quality, would you think this coin was made with copied punches?
- With regards to date, would you all think this is perhaps on the earlier side of the window of 1790 to 1820? I don't see a visible seam around the edge of the coin, so maybe it could be a later Sheffield Plate? However, I would think it could be earlier since it uses the portrait of Charles III.
Thank you for any input!
-threefifty
Posted 03/01/2022 10:41 pm
