Peru 8 Reales, 1771

It's a very interesting lima piece more particularly its coin edge and the 3 sharp looking strike fluor-de-lis design at the middle of the reverse. I'll be waiting for swamperbob's and others comments. By the way what is its weight Ywan?

I think the coin is fake. I don't like the font on the "H" in Hispan and I don't like the look of the reverse (pillar) side. Something just seems funky. Most 1771 pillars are very well struck and appear very sharp and clean. I can't really make out the edge in the photo you posted, partially because of the weird color this coin has, it looks to me like it has been chemically aged. Can you please post a much clearer, better lit photo of the edge. It is hard to tell on a coin with such severe discoloration what is really going on with the coin. I would have my defensive radar on full when this coin comes and make sure you get some expert opinions.

No symmetry in the letter. The left leg is much "fatter" than the right leg (or your photo is distorted). Not a sure sign in and of itself but it caught my eye right away. It is so hard to tell from photos whether a coin is real or not, but this coin just looks wrong to me, the proportions are wrong, the design isn't as sharp as it should be...of course all these things could just be in the photo as well. It's possible the coin is legit and the funky color is from a land burial or some other odd storage issue but it set off all the alarms with me and I would be very leery of this coin unless I could hold it in my hand and go over it with a 10X glass in really good light. Just my humble opinion, you need to base your decision whether to keep it on the coin itself once you have it in your hand. ALso what is it about the coin that you like? 1771 single dot left is a really common pillar dollar, there are lots of beautiful examples out there to acquire? Did you get a really good price on it? I can't believe it was the color of the coin that attracted you? I have attached photos of one of my 1771s for you to compare coins. Mine is 26.8 grms

ywan - Sorry for not getting out an answer sooner, but I got another computer viruc and had to completely erase everything again. It took nearly three days just to get back on line and then I was way behind.

I have studied the pictures and based on what I see - I can not render a conclusive opinion about the coin being an original. It certainly does look like a sea salvaged coin. However, that said, there are many forgeries which use corrosive toning/aging methods to produce the same end result. I agree that it appears that "something" may have been removed from the surface.

There is some distortion in the pictures that makes the coin look wrong, but it may be that the appearance of the photos were altered by the angle from which they were taken. Also the edge and the shot of the Two world's side is way out of focus so that they provide little firm data. A blurred picture hides a lot of data.

My real problem begins with the color. The way the coin is toned looks artificial to me. Toning (artificially applied) is often used to conseal die problems that occur during the transfer process. I do see some lumps that are suspicious (specifically at the V and M in VNUM and on the other side in the area of the US III in the King's name.) The problem is that lumps and odd toning are often seen on forgeries.

I am also concerned with letter symmetry in several cases. The long tail on the Q bothers me for a coin dated after 1770. The edge is ...... WELL, simply not clear enough to form any opinion.

The 1771 coins are usually the best struck of the Lima series and they have wide, even, low profile dentils that make that date standout from earlier dates in the series. The coins from the Lima mint in 1771 are (unfortunately) known with both pre-strike as as well as post strike edges. In Mexico the planchets in 1771 were edged PRE-STRIKE only - so a Mexican coin with this rim distortion would be FAKE - period. But with Lima it still could be real.

I would based only on what I see in the pictures and the information specified about the weight being "about 26 grams" - I would be suspicious of a forgery.

Once the coin arrives IMMEDIATELY weigh it accurately - 26.0 gams is going to indicate a FAKE in at least 99% of cases. Extensive corrosion that removes a lot of metal can remove a gams of material but it pits the surface significantly. After determining the weight, do a Specific Gravity test to make sure it is really silver.

Please post CLEAR shots of the coin taken squarely to the coin's surfaces. An angled shot which is photo shopped to appear round is not good enough. I suspect that may be the case here with your first photos.

Please let us know when it arrives.

Just read through this older post. Good to hear you cancelled the bid and did not have to deal with a headache.

ywan's first post


ywan's last post.

I am confused. Is it possible to win an item at ebay. after a day or two, can you cancel a bid after being declared a winner?
Maybe it is more appropriate if you have already received a coin and returned it.....
Because I have been watching pillar dollars at ebay everyday and have not seen this coin posted. ywan, Can you please disclose the ebay item number so that we can search for it who is the seller?