Carolus IIIi 8 Reales 1794 PR Expected Pts, But Altered To MO?

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 818
cjkfung New Member Thailand 2 Posts	Posted 04/18/2022 05:50 am Hello, this is my first post. Firstly, I'm super happy to find this resource. I've only been enjoying this hobby for the last two years. Still much more reading, learning and collecting to go. I recently bought this 1794 8R with what looks to be an altered mintmark. The PR assayer's initials and the year should be associated with the PTS mintmark, but instead there's an MO mintmark with longer than expected serifs surrounded by a bunch of scratches. Mass = 26.51 g, diameter = ~42mm. Not magnetic and has a nice ring. The first thing I noticed when I held this coin was that it felt thinner and a lot wider than my other Carolus III/IIII 8R's (most of them being in the region of 38mm). Some questions: Is this a counterfeit? If not, why alter the mintmark? It's so thin and pancake-y, why? Edited by cjkfung 04/18/2022 05:50 am Report this Post to the Staff

John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 04/18/2022 07:06 am . Let's wait for a pro or two to chime in. This is not my area,but a lot of fakes are out there.Not saying yours is. John1 Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 188660 Posts	Posted 04/18/2022 12:19 pm to the Community! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
threefifty Valued Member United States 131 Posts	Posted 04/23/2022 1:04 pm Hi cjkfung - welcome! I would highly recommend getting a copy of The Un-Real Reales if you haven't already. As a very broad summary, the author (swamperbob, who regularly posts on this forum) discusses that a significant premium existed for Mexico City mint 8 reales used in trade in China. This premium meant that people were incentivized to counterfeit or sometimes modify genuine coins to imitate Mexico City mint 8 reales. Looking at your coin it seems to be a modified genuine Potosí 8 reales. The premium varied over time, but could have been in the vicinity of a 16% (pg. 145) profit to alter the mintmark. Report this Post to the Staff
realeswatcher Pillar of the Community United States 1962 Posts	Posted 04/24/2022 3:39 pm Yeah, that's a genuine Potosi piece that was altered. Late 1780s-early 1790s Potosi pieces are typically larger in diameter than Mexico City mint products. threefifty's notes what swamperbob has said about these in the past, which seems to be a reasonable explanation. Report this Post to the Staff
cjkfung New Member Thailand 2 Posts	Posted 04/25/2022 07:12 am threefifty: Thank you for the book citation. Amazon ships to Thailand. Huzzah! Just ordered. realeswatcher: Good info, thanks! Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 5 / Views: 818

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.

All Forums Category: World Coins and Currency Forums Forum: World Coins and Commemoratives

Silver Gold Bull US is the United States leading bullion dealer. We deliver gold coins, gold bars, silver coins, silver bars and precious metals to your door. Order today!

The First Dollar, your premier source for bullion and rare coins. See our bullion list on the site and the coin inventory on ebay.

View Last 100 New Topics

View Last 100 Active Topics

Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum

It took 0.23 seconds to rattle this change.