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Calling the Mexican 8R experts... contemporary counterfeit?
coinpictures
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I picked this up at my local shop just because I thought it was a cool item. I assume it's a contemporary counterfeit of some sort struck in copper. Does it have any value or is it just a curiosity?
Thanks.
Thanks.
0
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It's most likely a contemporary and at some point had silver plating that was either removed on your coin, or perhaps even never applied. This could be just a copper core.
Here's some notes I had on these from Swamperbob:
<< <i>The copper cores that look pitted were reclaimed for any silver coating they had - that is why they look like they do. Most on the market recently come from a large hoard discovered by a group of pot hunters (about 1999) while using metal detectors on the dump site associated with a silver refinery near one of the mountain mines in north central Mexico. The story has been pieced together from several "reliable" sources but the principles will not admit to the circumstances of the discovery and I have never been able to determine where the find occurred. The principles involved came from Mexico and the US and range in location from south Texas to southern California, so the area where they "met up to dig" covers a wide range and large number of sites. The find was definitely made on Mexican government property and hence was illegal. The group of 5 or 6 finders split up the find and hauled it out on burros. The majority was carried into the US years ago. The find included hundreds of varieties of all denominations 1/2 R up to 8R and the decimal series as well. The earliest date from the hoard seems to be about 1840 but those early dates may have been mixed in later because the ones I have encountered do not appear to have been leached with acid. . The latest date I have seen is 1919 but that was also unique. Most common dollar sized coins are 1880 vintage 8Rs and brassy Pesos. The 2Rs especially 1868 Go are VERY plentiful.. NO RIDDELLS are in the group. Most are the copper or brass cores struck from transfer die impressions made by impact transfer. A FEW were struck from fantasy engraved dies and one of two bear nonsensical legends. These copper cores were often electroplated with silver to pass, so the refinery simply reversed the process either using electrolysis or nitric acid dissolution (leaching). A few of the coins were originally tin plated not silver plated so the coatings on those are fairly intact. The cores were buried in large metal cans or glass jars or pottery vessels depending on the version of the discovery story you hear. I suspect it could have been a mix of all of the above. Some of the cores display a marked level of corrosion due to ground water and some have traces of rust adhering. So I suspect some broken pots, cracked jars or rusted out metal containers were involved. Apparently the Mexican government pulled thousands of fakes from circulation shortly after the Revolution and they recovered the small amounts of silver on them by dissolving it - the same process used in leaching ores could have been employed so a mine refinery makes sense. The cores were base metal and were thrown away. Burial was thought to make an end of them. >>
8 Reales Madness Collection
8 Reales Madness Collection