Spurious $10 gold?

wev

I am breaking up an old estate. I found three $10 gold coins, all dated 1894, hidden in a desk. Two looked just fine, but the third not so much. Aside from the general mushiness, the 4 in the date is notably off line and there is an odd countermark on the back side. I'm afraid the images are not the best, but I would appreciate any thoughts.

Hemispherical

Weird. Is not A21K (and variations) usual found on jewelry?

A jeweler stamped a gold coin?

Or is it a jeweler’s replica of a gold coin? A jewelry’s piece of a necklace or something similar?

thefinn

Looks like a middle-eastern piece. They are the gold content marked. These were done for the bullion trade, rather than trying to pass it off as a real coin.

PerryHall

Poorly made fake. I wouldn't even trust the 21K marking.

asheland

Yikes!

jwitten

I'd be interested in seeing the other gold coins you found. I wouldn't be surprised if there was another fake or two in the mix.

AlexinPA

Really interesting. A little research shows many books have been written on coin counter stamps. Hope you get it figured out.

wev

Starting in on the multiple file cabinets of papers, found an 1983 receipt from a Cairo jewelry dealer for a "one $10 Amer in gold... $81" right in line with what has been suggested above.

wev

@jwitten said:
I'd be interested in seeing the other gold coins you found. I wouldn't be surprised if there was another fake or two in the mix.

sellitstore

That one looks just fine and genuine.

Actually AU-UNC.

BryceM

Ah, another classic "disposing of an estate" topic........

I suppose an occasional thread reveals something truly interesting or valuable, but 99% of these discussions end the same. Actually the coin in the last photo doesn't look too bad.

ricko

I wish I would get a shot a breaking up an old estate coin collection....what fun that could be... Of course, with my luck, it would consist of wheaties, two Buffs and a Peace dollar... Cheers, RickO

TPRC

@thefinn said:
Looks like a middle-eastern piece. They are the gold content marked. These were done for the bullion trade, rather than trying to pass it off as a real coin.

I used to see these in the gold souks in Riyadh and Dubai, back in the days when I traveled there on business. Even an non-collector could spot them. Occasionally, you would find a real U.S. gold or silver coin, but it was not often. Sometimes, you could find some cool world pieces though, or some authentic Islamic gold.