It is a weak strike, on obverse 4 o'clock, reverse 8 o'clock. The coin is actually thinner here, and the remnant of the design of the undertype spanish dollar shows through in those places (these coins were originally overstruck on Spanish dollars). After the REX on the obverse, you can clearly see the IIII from the Spanish CAROLUS IIII (some bits of CAROLUS also come through), and on the reverse HISPAN ET IN is readable under BANK OF, with the H easily seen between BANK and 1804. Finally, the tip of one of the pillars is seen to the left of the D in DOLLAR.
The thing that looks like a wobbly die crack through and after the date 1804 is actually the remnant of the top of the Spanish crown. Unfortunately, the Spanish coin's original date is underneath the DEI, where the strike is stongest - not a trace left of it. Likewise the Spanish mintmarks. But, there's enough there to confirm it was a Spanish-American 8 reales of the period 1791-1808.
The damage in the field just below the king's chin looks to me to be too "regular" for a natural explanation (bag marks, staples etc). I think some contemporary coin vandal had a go at practicing their coin etching there - or they were drilling test spots to see if it was real silver underneath.
On the positive side, my club-member friend has checked his specimen, and it compares well with mine - weight, edge, diameter all match his genuine one, and he also has a couple of contemporary counterfeits which aren't anywhere near as convincing. The fact you can make out details on the underlying Spanish coin added to the coin's pedigree.
The main query I have now about mine is the "sound" - it doesn't "ring" like a dollar-sized silver coin ought to, it's more a "clank" sound. It could be a result of the uneven thickness, it could be an invisible crack or planchet flaw... or it could be a very convincing modern fake. There are also some intriguing raised spots in the field around "Brittania's" head. But all in all I'm more inclined to believe it's genuine after that report.
I paid AU$350 for it. The dealer said he'd have asked more, if there weren't the query about authenticity.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
Posted 07/11/2006 06:30 am
