1804 Crude 8R - Modern Replica Or Countemorary Counterfeit

Yeah, the style elements definitely look crude contemporary, but the porosity on those surfaces look that ubiquitous 1793 "replica" 8R seen frequently (and other modern replicas).

The weight is "about 15 grams"... which sort of sounds like a weight from a scale with 5g tolerance. If that's anything close, that seems way light for a contemporary fake, and more like a modern fantasy tribute.

Would it be crazy to think it might be a modern cast replica OF a contemporary fake?

The weight is far too low to be contemporary forgery. The typical contemporary forgery weighs in excess of 22 grams. In fact in my weight study done a few years ago, fewer than 1 percent of all known contemporary forgeries were as low as 22 grams. When you get to 20 grams or less you are assured that you are dealing with a Modern copy made when people were totally unfamiliar with the correct weight (feel) of a dollar coin.

It is still rather interesting because it may be an imitation of a counterfeit.

Counterfeits of collectible counterfeits have been around for a while but they are usually unsuccessful because most collectors of forgeries have little difficulty spotting them in person. Pictures are nice but they can be very deceiving.

The coin is made well enough to cause problems for novice counterfeit collectors but the weight would have been so unbelievable in commerce in the early 1800's that it NEVER would have passed.

I suspect it is a modern Chinese product in white metal a casting. The Chinese often mistakenly believe originals weigh 20 grams because of the legend on the Cap and Ray 8R that reads "10Ds 20"Gs. They think the last g refers to grams. But it means Grannos a term used in the assay of the metal's purity. All cap and ray coins right down to the 1/2 Reale have the identical legend so it is not tied to weight.

So for me, it is very easy to imagine that a forger would believe the correct weight of a worn 8R to be in the 15 gram vicinity based on that simple misunderstanding.