Recent pickup - Contemporary Counterfeit Chihuahua 8 Reales
threefifty
Posts: 102 ✭✭✭
I bought this coin recently for my one-per-mint counterfeit collection. I had a feeling looking at it that it was a contemporary counterfeit, and I wasn't disappointed! Measurements are 22.34 grams, estimated specific gravity of 9.8. In general the coin is even cruder than most Chihuahuas, and the validation stamps are also significantly outside the norm, with the T looking like an I. The pomegranate punch is not square and looks like a ball on the end of a stick. The colonial edge is also present but poorly done. I've owned several Chihuahuas over the past few years, not a large sample size, but enough to get a feel for the coinage. They have ranged in weight from about 24.5 to 28 grams, with none testing lower than 10.2 for specific gravity.
Francisco Cebreiro Ares published an excellent paper a few years back (https://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?pid=S0185-39292021000100049&script=sci_abstract&tlng=en) which references a court case in 1813 in Cusihuiriachi where an individual was convicted of counterfeiting the provisional coinage of Chihuahua and sentenced to 4 years in prison. The counterfeits were described as high-quality casts (like genuine Chihuahua coinage) but of fineness of 9 dineros 3 granos (approximately 76% silver). The coinage circulating in the town was brought in for evaluation and approximately 20% was found to be counterfeit. At a specific gravity of 9.8 my example is possibly 55% silver, 45% copper (assuming no other elements are mixed in, I haven't done an XRF test yet).
Thought I would share as I have not seen many others of this type. A couple have sold on Ebay over the years. Curious if anyone else has any strange ones, genuine or not, in your collection?
Comments
Great post and thanks for sharing the reference information. For anyone familiar with the validation stamps used in Chihuahua, that pomegranate would be a very clear red flag. Most others would treat it as genuine, attribute the low weight to casting practices and variability of this series, and not even go down the metal composition route (which is great that you did, as it further points to it being a counterfeit).
Fascinating piece! Thanks for posting it.
8 Reales Madness Collection
I kind of see it that if not for the blatantly false stamps, the host would qualify as absolutely typical (if a bit worn) for the type.
threefifty, great piece, will study it more closely. Please show it to John Lorenzo on CoinComm.