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Gold/mexican experts: a 1 peso "fantasy" gold coin? What the..

GoldCoinLoverGoldCoinLover Posts: 1,244
in World & Ancient Coins Forum
Well, I just moved to Surprise, Arizona. It's about 5 minutes from Glendale and 25 minutes from central phoenix. On the way, we stopped by an antique store. It was a small store, in the middle of nowhere, right by a gas station on the side of the road. In a glass case, they had several gold coins and tokens. I was amazed. Never before had I gone to an antique store and saw so many gold coins. They had libertys, and worn indian heads. Most all the USA coinage was not anywhere near MS circuation. But they did have this one coin, and for only $10. And it was made out of gold!

The seller called it a 1 peso mexican "fantasy" gold coin. I had no clue what this coin was. It was very small as well. He said it was real gold; but the coin was not used for spending when it was made. I suspected that it was a restrike. Anyone ever heard of this coin?

Comments

  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,654 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It's not a restrike, because a restrike is a reissue of an actual coin. A fantasy is a coin that never existed. The ones you mentioned had a picture of Emperor Maximilian.

    At least the seller was straight enough about calling it a fantasy issue.

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  • Conder101Conder101 Posts: 10,536 ✭
    LM is right, it is a fantasy not a real coin or restrike. They were also telling the truth, they are gold, usually about 8K.
  • GoldCoinLoverGoldCoinLover Posts: 1,244
    So how is it not a real coin. I'm confused. It is a coin.. do you mean this is the only one that was made?
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,654 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A "coin" is something that is, or once was, legal tender, issued by a particular government. A fantasy piece is something that mimics the design of a coin, and may have a denomination like a coin, but never really was officially issued. It's a "pretend" coin. A restrike, on the other hand, is a reissue of an actual coin. And a pattern is a coin that was never issued but which was usually officially sanctioned.

    A fantasy issue is sort of a numismatic "what if". Like if I designed a new kind of 1793 cent and struck some. It wouldn't fool real collectors, because it's totally different from the real thing.

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  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,654 ✭✭✭✭✭
    THIS, for example, is a fantasy issue, despite the seller's claim of it being a "pattern". There's no such thing as an Edward VIII South African crown, to my knowledge.

    Just plug in "Edward VIII pattern" into an eBay search and you'll come up with all sorts of fantasy issues.

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