Fake coin - but oh so real Gold!

[PKennett]

Found this last Saturday in about 5 inches of salty mud on a beach here in Singapore. It's a U.S. Five Dollar gold piece, about the size of a nickel. It came out of the salt water this shinny and corrosion free, so I was pretty excited to see it!

There where thousands of counterfeits made of this coin, along with tons of brass fakes. This one is not real either, as the give-away is the "S" mint mark. No U.S. $5 gold coins were minted in San Francisco in 1907.

However, I took it to a jeweler this week and it is the same weight (8.4 grams) and size as the original. The jeweler claims it is at least 20kt gold. This makes it very close to a real $5 gold coin, but again, the "S" mintmark is proof that this is not authentic U.S. mint. In any event - it's a great find!

Peter

 

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[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Wow,

I'm stunned !!

This is worth getting graded if its a period counterfeit, I'll also nominate it for banner !!

Epic find !!

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[bula]

Thats one good thing about the old counterfiet coins they were done in real gold. I could stand to find a bag full of those.

 

[Iron Patch]

Pretty cool find, but how do you know it's not a heavy gold plate. It doesn't make sense for a counterfeit gold coin to be near the same purity and weight.

 

[mainer]

Pretty cool find, but how do you know it's not a heavy gold plate. It doesn't make sense for a counterfeit gold coin to be near the same purity and weight.

Im with IP. Wouldnt make much sense to counterfit it if it were that close. Great find non theless though.

 

[Iron Patch]

Pretty cool find, but how do you know it's not a heavy gold plate. It doesn't make sense for a counterfeit gold coin to be near the same purity and weight.

Im with IP. Wouldnt make much sense to counterfit it if it were that close. Great find non theless though.

A more modern fake would make sense if it booked high.... but adding an S mint mark would be a pretty dumb mistake. Unless of course you were trying to take someone for thousands not hundreds.

 

[Don in SJ]

I would be very skeptical, the weight is almost a tad high, which means like IP said, a heavy plating of gold with a base metal underneath to match the approximate weight. A Specific Gravity Test done would be all telling in this case and a SG test does no damage at all to the coin.

Don

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I agree with the fellas, but it is a great display find.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Here's a thought maybe the S was added to pass it off as a proof... So likely a modern counterfeit...

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[Iron Patch]

I agree with the fellas, but it is a great display find.

I agree. I think it's a great find and makes for a more interesting post than a real one.

 

[Wldbil]

Very Cool find either way... Congrats

 

[colorado14ers]

wow!!! a solid gold counterfiet. nice!!!

 

[PKennett]

I'll get the Specifoc Gravity test when I get a chance next week. In the meantime, I wanted to add that the coin was in a gold bezel, and probably attached to a gold chain although I haven't found the chain yet.

Here's what my machine displays when I scan the coin, which is very conistent with scanning an authentic $5 Eagle. This copy is real good!

Pete

 

[augusthog]

Kewl find!

 

[AMorgan]

Here's a thought maybe the S was added to pass it off as a proof... So likely a modern counterfeit...

Keep @ it and HH !!

Proof coins werent made in San Francisco until 1968... before then they were all made in Philadelphia.

Regarding the profitability, this coin is likely an old fake... maybe not 1907 old, but maybe 1950's old... There were fakes being made in Lebanon that were almost perfect, including gold content.

Alan

 

[MikE-Trac]

awesomeeee

 

[Joe Hoo?]

NICE FIND! i am gonna go off the limb here and assume it was not electroplated because if it was it would not look that good coming out of the ground, gold yes and by golly thats a nice looking counterfeit....

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

The only reference to 1907 with an S mintmark came from...you guessed it, a chinese company selling them online:

Here is the link: http://www.xi-a.com/search.php?mod=...mit=yes&srchtxt=1907+Five+Dollar+Gold+Piece

 

[PKennett]

The only reference to 1907 with an S mintmark came from...you guessed it, a chinese company selling them online:

That's a $10. San Francoso did make the $10 double eagle in 1907, but not the $5.

 

[dfx willy]

he said it had a bezal! so it was ment to be worn. willy