This is my first pillar purchase. I bought it from ebay, what do you guys think, is it real or a real good fake? It has good features but I dont live near any coin stores so I have no idea if it is real or not. It weighs 26.81 grams. Thanks.

A good indication is who the seller was, do they normally sell coins, are they reliable, and are they located in N. America?

Secondly, try the "ring" test, place the coin on the tip of your finger, and give it a very light tap with another coin. Silver has a high-pitched ring to it, and other alloys have a lower tone. (You want the higher pitched sound) Try it with a silver quarter or some other silver coin you're sure is silver to get a good idea of the sound.

Also, check the weight in relationship to the redbook listings, they are rather accurate and reliable. And finally, check the rim and make sure it has no signs of being cast and then ground to hide a seam.

These coins are hard to get, legit ones anyway, VERY HIGH quality fakes exist as these are basically crude dies to begin with, so making a fake die would have been fairly easy for any skilled engraver. Secondly, some of the newer fakes are being made of silver, mainly from China. They are being sold as legit coins because they are making way more than the silver costs, and it's very hard to tell the difference unless you're very much on top of milled coinage.

I have a few milled reales in my collection, no 8 reales though, only the 1/2, 1, and 2 so far. I need a 4, and 8 to complete my set, and don't want to get burned on the larger purchases. So doing a little research goes a long way with these. Either way though, the coin looks great, I hope it's the real deal!

The coin appears to be genuine, but the weight is just a tiny bit out of tolerance. But the weight difference is so small that it could easily be accounted for by wear.

You have to buy these from a legitimate dealer. Too many convincing fakes. No E-Bay on these.