There are copies of the Swiss Shooting Thalers offered on ebay from time to time. I won an Graubunden 4 Francs KM#17 last year that proved to be silver plated brass.
The seller was in Moldovia, but I think the fakes are coming out of Russia. The silver content is not given in my old Krause catalog for this issue. Regular Swiss Confederation issues are 25.00 gms, .900 fine, and the assayed silver weight is .7234 oz.. I don't know how this compares to the commemorative shooting festival thalers because under that heading it says that by law the shooting thalers are legal tender of 5 Swiss Francs, but it also reads that the silver fineness starting with the 1855 Solothurn issue is listed as .835 fine silver, so there would be a very slight difference in weight. I would get it looked at by a dealer or collector for a 2nd opinion before I would buy the coin if I were you. If it is genuine, it is a good find because only 10,000 were made in 1865. To me, maybe because of lighting, the tone seems a bit off.
Ask the seller for the history of that particular coin. Is it a family piece, was it found, how long have they had it, why are they wanting to sell it, and so on. You can watch for reactions that might indicate they might know if the coin is real or not.
Good Luck,
Phil
