Ebay item:
270232125079

Sellers name is "coinczarina" which in itself is a hoot. but feedback is zero.

coin looks too nice to be true? In either case (fake or not ) "The coin is guaranteed to be authentic" but "I do not accept returns."

Link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=270232125079

Looks like a gamble - new seller 0 feedback.

I'd be extremely cautious. Obverse doesn't match any of the 13 I've seen. Tip of Catherine's crown points to a different part of the legend, for example.

Steve

Is that a "C" I see stamped onto the edge?

Possibly all that remains of a rubbed-out "Made in China"

Looking a bit Potemkinish to me too.

On the whole, it looks good. The bust of the Empress matches that on known genuine pieces.

RWJ

I don't see it, but might be looking in the wrong place.

Hutten-Czapski countermarked his coins with a small "C" but (at least on the examples which I have seen) the edge was not the location used for the stamping.

I think bobh is looking at the anomoly on the edge, between the P of "IMP" and ".I.CAMO
i cant make out what it is. perhaps it is where the edge milling started/ended and overlapped a few lines.

The coin just has "not quite right" quality, but i suppose it could just be flat lighting.

The sellers terms are not too comforting.

I was thinking of "C" for "COPY" ... ... on the first edge picture, turned upside-down. But if RWJ thinks it's OK, I'm sure it is, too.

I doubt it is a "C" counterstamp. The edge milling overlap explanation seems more likely.

Here's an enlarged, cropped & brightened version of the seller's picture.




I agree. The coin might be real, but something about it bothers me as well. Also, the terms, as you point out, are less than reassuring.

The blowup does the trick! I think its silver solder, mount or eye removed? OR casting trace?

It could be either. My guess is mount removal.