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AN. 12 Gold 40 Francs


LostDutchman

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I don't know for sure- not really my area of expertise, but check the rim denticles near the bottom on the obv, and the area around the P and both E's of Premier.

Are the surfaces really smooth, or wavy, or cast? Check the PAR of Bonaparte, and the detail in the hair, with the denomination being worn. Is the coin from a cupped die? Check the rooster mintmark, and the weak detail in the leaves next to it.

I see so many of the "Chinese" silver counterfeits, that I look for the features that give these away. The surfaces originally cast, and then smoothed out, polished, or wavy, and little raised particles around the letters.

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I don't know for sure- not really my area of expertise, but check the rim denticles near the bottom on the obv, and the area around the P and both E's of Premier.

Are the surfaces really smooth, or wavy, or cast? Check the PAR of Bonaparte, and the detail in the hair, with the denomination being worn. Is the coin from a cupped die? Check the rooster mintmark, and the weak detail in the leaves next to it.

I see so many of the "Chinese" silver counterfeits, that I look for the features that give these away. The surfaces originally cast, and then smoothed out, polished, or wavy, and little raised particles around the letters.

 

First, it's been struck. Question is, has it been struck in brass or has it been struck in gold.

 

Well from the original images it is hard to say. You need to play with the brightness and contrast to see what is there to be seen.

 

There are a number of anomalies on the coin that can be explained.

 

Die filling? (possibly evidenced on the `N' circled obverse). Die chips? (possibly evidenced on the base of the `P' in Bonaparte). Die cracks? (possibly evidenced in the `0' in 40). Well, if the coin were genuine it would be demonstrating examples of all of these.............. I've circled a few anomalies in the images attached, all of which could easily be explained away one at a time as being the result of one die condition or another. The one that got me thinking the most was the `0' in 40. How could that happen with a genuine die? Well, I suppose a die crack would explain the weakness at the top and the weird line across the `0' (not enough metal to fill the die having escaped in the crack). Add it all up and the probabilities of it being genuine are as much your guess as mine :ninja:

 

To be honest,....only the OP can say for sure one way or the other. If it is genuine, it does have a lot of interesting things going on with it.

 

40frsobv.jpg

40frsrev.jpg

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here is a scan to give you a better idea of the coins true color.

 

deleted as being superfluous. I should have read your earlier response in sequence :ninja:

 

Ian

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That's what I thought.

 

I still think the `0' is more likely due to a die crack than anything else. Sometimes it takes a bit of getting your head around, but to create a raised bit on a coin, the die has to be incused. If a bit of the top of the 8 on the die had chipped off and relocated during

the striking there would be a trench somewhere next to the raised bit.

 

No matter, it all adds a bit of interest, n'est ce pas? :ninja:

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