Posted 04/26/2024 07:45 am
This is one type that is extremely hard to authenticate even in hand and with pictures I think its next to impossible. I have a number of examples of the type however every single one I have I obtained more than a decade ago when A) the forgeries were a LOT worse and B) I lived in HK hence had access to a number of true experts in the type. I was lucky that almost every one I found was genuine but that's after rejecting a lot of forgeries.
It doesn't hit you as fake on first impressions but I am a concerned about the strike - that it is too good. By this I mean that the strike feels just too good too strong. Even ms examples of these coins often have writing that seems faded and worn and it isn't from wear at least not of the coin, it is because the dies used at the time for these provincial coins were terrible and very few coins had such sharp strikes as yours. In addition, for a sharp strike it seems a little strange having the patina of something that would be VF but the wear of something that would be AU and might even slide to UNC.
Finally, although I have seen many examples of the type I have yet to see one with the same exact writing as yours has. Typically the writing is smaller than yours. All my examples are but I only have 12 or so and there were MANY varieties. However, even when I have seen bigger writing the style of the script was different with the biggest difference being that the Ns were much thicker on the diagonal.
So on this, I suspect it isn't real but I am far from certain despite having a modest amount of knowledge on the subject. In reality even in HK I know of only 2 or 3 guys I would trust to be able to authenticate this (assuming you have already checked metal etc which it seems you have as the weight and dimensions are about right for an XF/AU coin).
People on this forum have a lot of difficulty on this type
http://goccf.com/t/240211 but I don't think its because of lack of expertise its just there are so many different varieties and the fakes are much much better than they were - this is NOT your typical aliexpress fake if it is indeed a fake.
For me though, there are too many potential problems to say its real. I would punt like PCGS and NGC do for a lot of this stuff and say it is "questionable".
It doesn't hit you as fake on first impressions but I am a concerned about the strike - that it is too good. By this I mean that the strike feels just too good too strong. Even ms examples of these coins often have writing that seems faded and worn and it isn't from wear at least not of the coin, it is because the dies used at the time for these provincial coins were terrible and very few coins had such sharp strikes as yours. In addition, for a sharp strike it seems a little strange having the patina of something that would be VF but the wear of something that would be AU and might even slide to UNC.
Finally, although I have seen many examples of the type I have yet to see one with the same exact writing as yours has. Typically the writing is smaller than yours. All my examples are but I only have 12 or so and there were MANY varieties. However, even when I have seen bigger writing the style of the script was different with the biggest difference being that the Ns were much thicker on the diagonal.
So on this, I suspect it isn't real but I am far from certain despite having a modest amount of knowledge on the subject. In reality even in HK I know of only 2 or 3 guys I would trust to be able to authenticate this (assuming you have already checked metal etc which it seems you have as the weight and dimensions are about right for an XF/AU coin).
People on this forum have a lot of difficulty on this type
http://goccf.com/t/240211 but I don't think its because of lack of expertise its just there are so many different varieties and the fakes are much much better than they were - this is NOT your typical aliexpress fake if it is indeed a fake.
For me though, there are too many potential problems to say its real. I would punt like PCGS and NGC do for a lot of this stuff and say it is "questionable".
