What is this brass coin?
JohnPhiloponus
Posts: 38 ✭✭✭
This coin was found in a box of old coins. Someone must know something about it.
Collector of Victoria, Edward VII, George V and George VI Canadian; and most anything U.S. I am currently looking for early Lincolns, raw in XF or better.
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It is a modern replica of a "Reyes Catolicos" silver reale of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. This particular replica, made of brass and with mushy details and a legend that's quite garbled compared tot he original coins, appears on the forums quite regularly.
This thread has one: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/13632700
And this thread: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/11875592
Their ultimate origin remains a mystery, but they're so common that they must have been mass-produced and mass-distributed. My best guess is a Reader's Digest giveaway (or from a similar company), probably for promoting a book either on "Pirates" or on "Christopher Columbus". Given the lack of the word COPY, I'd also guess they pre-date the 1973 Hobby Protection Act that required COPY to be placed on replicas.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.
Thanks, Sapyx!
Collector of Victoria, Edward VII, George V and George VI Canadian; and most anything U.S. I am currently looking for early Lincolns, raw in XF or better.