What a difference!

TwoKopeiki

I've won an 1813 8 Reales, described as "Broad Struck", but the term "Tampered Planchet Strike" fits this coin better. Seller described it as "actually XF wear" and his images showed lustre. I wanted a sample of this mint error from that time to better understand the process and glad that I did.

Seller's auction can be found

here.

His scanned pictures:



Now ... the coin does look like that if you are looking at it straight down. But if you tilt it towards the light, just a little, you will get this:



I guess during the War of Independence some corners were cut in the rolling step resulting in a piece of flat stock where the central area was thinner than the perimeter. The blank punched from this stock was thinner across the middle and no amount of strike pressure could overcome that problem. There are rough areas within areas of weakness that look like the surface produced directly out of a rolling mill.

Fascinating piece! I love the character of these large coins.

satootoko

2K - Those pictures are amazing!

Aethelred

I love eBay folks who can't take a decent picture!

Bailathacl

Holy @#$%&*, that looks soooo good....

Edited to add: I'd like to look at future auctions from this seller....

coinkat

very cool...

ziggy29

Nice score. People with images like that need to invest their sale proceeds into better imaging equipment and skills. That will more than pay for itself in the long run with higher sale prices.

TwoKopeiki

Thanks for your compliments, everyone. Most of my photo skills came from reading photography posts on these boards, written by more experienced folks, like Mark(mgoodm3), Cladiator and others. I enjoy this part of a hobby and I often buy a coin simply because I would like to photograph it.