1755 8 Reales Recovered, Real Or Counterfeit ?

Do not hold coins between your fingers like in these images. Fingers can leave residual substances that can permanently damage a coin.

It appears to be a Peruvian piece. Weight and diameter are good. I cannot tell you it is genuine but it seems to be in amazing condition considering it's a ground find.

Thanks for replies. I was going to post a picture of what it look like when it came out of the hole but I can't reduce the size of the photo to 300 K. But these photos I was able to reduce after soaking in distilled water overnight.

Super great condition from the ground, luckier than most!
That's a good looking coin, a keeper!

Hi realeswatcher. I will not divulge the location of the find beyond saying state of NY.

Thanks for reply. I glad it's your opinion that the coin is genuine, from what I understand there are many forgeries. Do you or anyone think I should send NGC to get certified? I don't want to waste time and money if it is a forgery.

Anacs is the best with foreign coins.

Thank you for the replies numismaticsFTW and BH1964. I will look into ANACS.

NF refers to Numismatic Forgery. It is one of two primary forms of forgery. NF refers to a coin specifically made to defraud collectors. It is the most dangerous class of fakes. These coins were never made to actually circulate as money in day-to-day transactions. The threat is to collectors who believe they are worth more than face value because of numismatic value.

CCC means Contemporary Circulating Counterfeit. CCC refers to a coin made to circulate alongside coins found in day-to-day transactions. In large numbers, CCC's can pose a threat to a nation's monetary stability. Individually the fraud is the face value only.

Counterfeiting laws were designed to protect a country's currency from being destabilized. It covers only coins found in day-to-day circulation (using the definition of coins being current money). Counterfeiting laws were not designed to protect collectors from fraud. Counterfeiting laws do NOT apply to coins that are non-current - like a three-cent piece or demonetized like ancient coins.

NF coins are not typically prosecuted under counterfeiting laws but rather under laws regulating commerce because they are fraudulent.

The distinction between the two types is legally very significant. Passing a single dollar coin under counterfeiting law is a crime involving only a dollar. These crimes are rarely prosecuted. However, selling a collector coin (say an 1889 CC Morgan dollar) is a felony under fraud statutes because it sells for over $1,000.

The distinction is why the possession and sale of CCC coins are legal in most jurisdictions as long as the coin is properly described at the point of sale.

A key difference in the law is the concept of "current money". Counterfeiting involves only "current money" which is routinely seen in day-to-day commercial transactions. Current does not mean the same as being monetized. Money is monetized by an entity that has the lawful basis for issuing money. In the US it is the government, and they designate a value for a coin. Only the Half Cent has been demonetized in the US.

Regarding the two tests, NO third-party grader offers a comprehensive service that includes both tests together with an accurate presentation of the results with conclusions. They usually do not even weigh the coin. They rely on a visual inspection by experts for over 99% of all authentications. They are not set up for the scientific analysis needed to be 100% certain.

With very minimal training and a decent quality scale that measures weight to one one-hundredth of a gram almost anyone can perform a Specific Gravity test. The principle is simple. The density of the coin is the coin's weight in air divided by the volume of the coin expressed in cubic centimeters. The volume of the coin is equal to the weight that the coin "seems" to lose when it is weighed suspended in water. See you tube for how it is done.

Some TPG's will for an added fee do a quick screening XRF but isolating counterfeits with XRF is a relatively new scientific field and the results they get are rarely interpreted for the owner. You will need to find a laboratory - like those associated with universities to locate the needed equipment. Typically, these tests are used in environmental applications looking for contamination (like lead in paint). You can sometimes find a junk yard that uses XRF to evaluate unknown metals. Those tests are good as long as the unit is set for gold content. The apparatus will unlikely be powerful enough to accurately determine the silver/copper ration but for gold it is good enough.

Once you have the results there are several members on the forum familiar with interpretation of the results.
If you have other questions please ask.

Bob, obviously this is all prudent information in general... but even disregarding anything about its origin, this piece is pretty clearly genuine.



You have your location in your profile - just assuming it's within a sensible drive. My cousin just had her kid's Christening at their fire dept. HQ hall last weekend.

Point being, very nice preservation for a fairly humid part of the country. Obviously, circumstances of how/where things are situated can vary.

Aside from the 1/2R pieces, what other coinage has been found at the site? You don't need to be told, but obviously pound the daylights out of it with the best equipment you can... and dig carefully to avoid scrapes on any other large pieces that may surface. Have scoured TNet's archives for years... many times when something that old/big surfaces, there are others nearby.



Presumably, you're asking how to get the most money out of it when selling. NGC or PCGS. In hand, the few surface marks on the pillars side "might" be considered enough to call it "Details - Damaged" or similar, rather than "straight grading"... but it has a chance. Detail-wise, it's XF, perhaps AU.