z32tt Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 (э б) initials are valid for 1899. Ah, well thank you for taking the time to reply. Do you think this coin is worth about $400USD? thumbnails: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted January 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 Do you think this coin is worth about $400USD? In this condition, I wouldn't pay much more than the gold value for it (1899 is probably the most common year for this series). But it is probably genuine. If gold is $1400/oz., then this coin would contain $350 worth of gold. So maybe $400 is a realistic price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny Kostova Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Hello all, I have a 10 ruble coin from 1899 with (АP) initials. The coin is exactly 8.6g, the diameter is 22.75mm and the thickness is 1.77mm. How do you think - is it definitely fake? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted December 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Hello all, I have a 10 ruble coin from 1899 with (АP) initials. The coin is exactly 8.6g, the diameter is 22.75mm and the thickness is 1.77mm. How do you think - is it definitely fake? Thanks! The weight is correct ... but I don't know exactly about the dimensions since I don't have my references at hand. Are you sure that the mintmaster is "AP" and not "АГ"? (Cyrillic letters, e.g. "AG" in Latin letters). With serifs, these letters can look very similar. "АГ" would be legitimate mintmaster initials for 1899 (Apollon Grasgov) as would also be "ФЗ" or "ЭБ". Perhaps you could post some pictures? That would help in case there are anomalies in the design. The bust of Nikolai II underwent some minor changes over the years. Also, your local coin dealer can tell whether or not the outer surface is really gold or not. If not, then the case is clear. Otherwise, it is perhaps gold plated, but then the weight and dimensions would probably vary somewhat from the standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRP Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I'm a radiologist, and I think it would be fascinating to take X-ray pictures of the fake coin and a genuine coin side-by-side. It would necessitate taking multiple exposures without moving the coins to 'penetrate' the thickness of the coins with the X-rays designed for humans but I think it would be possible. It would also show if it got hollowed out and re-filled with another metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKB Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 I am not sure oabout this whole x-ray deal... Would you need lead gloves to handle them afterwards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve D'Ippolito Posted January 31, 2012 Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Not for X rays. They don't have the energy needed to bung up atomic nuclei and make something radioactive. (They will ionize an atom, but I doubt that would harm what is basically a lump of metal.) If they were to neutron-irradiate it, then yes. Neutrons will actually change the atomic weight of whatever they hit, and turn that atom into a radioactive isotope. They then see exactly how energetically it decays, and they can figure out what isotope the atom was before it decayed. Subtract one neutron and they know what it was before it was irradiated; that gives them a good idea of the composition of the object that was irradiated. As I understand it, the radioactivity generally dies down in a few years. But of course we have a radiologist here, and I am just a geek who reads a lot. So I should shut up and let DRP chime in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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