New member .. question.

GoldCoinLover

I'm a new member. This is my first message. I appreciate the kindness around these forums, as I've experinced it alot differently on other forums. Perhaps someone here would know .. this subject seems more popular than the forign and ancient coin section, so I decided to post my first message here as well. (Let me know if thats not ok)

I'm afraid my coin is counterfeit. I need your help. I'm thinking of sending it into PCGS but I don't think they accept forign coins. Its a british gold soverign. Its date is 1918, or 1913, its hard to tell the 8 from a 3 and my magnifer sucks. I turned 16 last month, and I spent my birthday money on it. I got it from www.amergold.com . They said they'd pick me out an extra good one.

It was supposed to be BU. But I'm guessing its XF. On the head side of the coin there is a small red dot, from something, I don't know from what. It looks suspsicious. I took a cottonball, wet it with water, and tried to take it off, I couldn't. It was stained on it. I was dreading that that dot was copper and perhaps the coin was a fake and the gold was plated. Amergold is is an authoriezd dealer according to PCGS.

I also have a 1/4 oz gold american eagle I compared it to to see if it was fake. I'm postive the american eagle is not fake.. I flipped the gold eagle and the gold soverign, both sound the same. I spinned both, flipped both, and rung both on tile. I did not notice any difference in sound pitch. If it was gold plated, I know for sure there would be a sound difference. It appears authentic, but I don't know.

Do any of you guys know of possibly that red spot could be? I don't see why it couldn't just come off with water. I scrubbed it pretty hard. I also put a few small scratchs near the spot with a knive to see if it was plated, it didn't appear to be.

Thanks.

Here's a picture of the coin. (It's hard to see the spot, since the picture is low res)

nankraut

Welcome to the forum. I know very little about foreign gold; so I'll let another member address your questions.

darktone

Welcome! can you post a picture of it? mike

XpipedreamR

Check your responses on the World Coin Forum!

RYK

Welcome,

I have dealt with www.amergold.com, both buying and selling, and they would not sell you a counterfeit coin.

I don't see why it couldn't just come off with water. I scrubbed it pretty hard. I also put a few small scratchs near the spot with a knive to see if it was plated, it didn't appear to be.

I cannot tell from your picture where or what the spot is. "Numismatic abuse" will not change the value of your purchase much as these coins trade solely for their bullion value. The red spot is likely a copper spot, but I cannot see the spot on your pics.

Good Luck!

GoldCoinLover

I'd love to post a picture of it out without having to click on that paperclip thing to see it. Although I don't know how to do that yet. I don't know much at all with taking digital photos or computers. (Heh, my dad took the picture) but I managed to put it in that paperclip like link.

Julian

It looks pretty fuzzy to me. My gut feeling is that it is a counterfeit. Do not bother sending it in. Wait until you get to a coin show, or show it to some local dealers, if you can. Hope this helps.

GoldCoinLover

<< <i>It looks pretty fuzzy to me. My gut feeling is that it is a counterfeit. Do not bother sending it in. Wait until you get to a coin show, or show it to some local dealers, if you can. Hope this helps. >>



Of course your help helps me

What makes you think its a counterfeit? (The picture is very low resolution, My dad and I are going to take a higher resolution, it will have alot more detail )

ldhair

GoldCoinLover

<< <i> >>




Thanks, thats it. How did you show the picture like that?

Libertad

You might try asking the chemistry teacher if he has an electronic scale you can use to weigh it. Counterfeit pieces rarely get
the weights anywhere close to the real deal


Weight should be 0.2568 oz. or 7.9873 grams (minus a bit for wear or plus a bit for added grime.)

Numismanic

Hi GoldCoinLover: Maybe this link will help you with posting pics.


Jonesy's Picture Posting Thread

MatthewBabcock

Dollars

Greetings and welcome to the forums.

cladking

Welcome aboard. No one can tell from a picture but it looks good. check for a mint mark
and try to avoid scratching coins since it will damage them in the eyes of most collectors.

Mark

Welcome to the forum.

I cannot answer your question about whether your coin is genuine or not. But I can tell you what a copper spot is: When gold is coined, it is mixed with copper (and perhaps other metals, but in the United States and I presume most other countries, copper is typically used with gold). Gold is combined with other metals because pure gold is too soft to make a good coin--it would wear too fast. If the mixture of gold and copper is not uniform, there can be spots that have more copper than the rest of the coin. If these spots are on the surface of the coin, the copper may tone (=tarnish). The spot with the darker toned copper is called a copper spot. Such a spot will not come off with rubbing because the copper is part of the metal.

Personally, I am not a great fan of copper spots. I expect that they adversely affect a coin's grade, though others who are more knowledgeable might disagree, in which case I'd go with their opinion. The conservation part of NGC, called NCS, is apparently able to eliminate or lessen copper spots.

But of course, all of this of no consequence if your coin is not genuine. And for this issue, I totally concur with Julian (who is a top notch dealer). Take the coin to a large coin show and ask some dealers there their opinion. If ANACS is at the show, they will offer their opinion of the coin for free. Plus a large coin show is a GREAT deal of fun.

Mark