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I was told this is a counterfeit... what is it?

I found this in a relative's collection. I don't know ancients at all, but I was told by a friend it was countertfeit.
It appears to be lead, but I'm not positive. What was it a counterfeit of?

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Comments

  • nicholasz219nicholasz219 Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭
    Looks like a souvenir Spanish cob that you can get at shops along the east coast. But I know next to nothing about these coins except that they were minted in silver and since most I have seen are in typically far worse shape than yours and your metal looks dark like a lead or nickel plated lead I would guess it is a modern reproduction.
  • MeltdownMeltdown Posts: 8,650 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thank you. It would appear that this is the 8 Reales - Possibly dated either 1673 or 1773 ?




    << <i>But in the Viceroyalty of Peru a new design was issued in 1652. The obverse was similar to the earlier cob reverse, consisting of a cross that incorporated the heraldic symbols of Leon and Castile...
    The two vertical pillars intersected three horizontal lines of text, giving the overall appearance of what is frequently called the "tic-tac-toe" design. The top line of text included the mintmark, the denomination and the assayer's initial, for example L 8 M (Lima, 8 reales, assayer M). The second line contained P V A or some other combination of letters from the legend PLVS VLTRA (More Beyond), with the large eight reales coin containing the entire legend. The final line gave the assayer initial, last two numerals of the date and then the mintmark, for example M 88 L (assayer M, 1688, Lima). Since these coins were produced from 1652-1773 it is sometimes necessary to identify the assayer to be confident of the correct century. >>

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