British Empire 1911 Trade Dollar. Genuine or Fake? [solved]

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Hi Guys,

Recently brought this 1911 British-Indian Trade dollar, Bombay mint. The weight of this coin is 26.45 grams where as the official weight is 26.95 grams. The diameter matches as 39 mm. What do you guys think about this? Is the weight difference acceptable?



Edge:


Note: i am returning it as i am unsure, but still would like to know.

Thanks in advance!

Regards...
Sujit
“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Inclined to believe it is genuine. Test the thickness and then density test it to confirm silver volume.

If one was going to counterfeit that coin in that date, they'd surely do it without the mint mark.

Your scales could easily be off by 0.5 grams, so you might want to try recalibrating them and weighing again.
Thanks for your input, I did recalibrate my weighting machine and same result. Too late for density test as it's already packed for the return.

In either case this coin looks to have been cleaned harshly so i am happy to return.
“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
It does look genuine but I would agree that it has been cleaned very heavily. It looks a little patchy but a nice coin.
I incline to think that the coin has bigger problems than harsh cleaning, IMHO it's a fake. Photos might be misleading (high definition scans are always more revealing in this regard), but it looks like the details of the coin are not sharp enough as they should be. Also how would you explain the wear on the Britannia bosom, helmet and knee while the flag on the shield is intact?
This site http://tradedollar.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/counterfeit-british-trade-dollar.html devoted to trade dollars, states that "26.55g is typical weight for coin with white copper as material. White copper is non magnetic." Much closer to your coin's weight, than the real coin's weight, isn't it?
Don't regret the return.
I collect coins and tokens which circulated in Africa from 18th century to 2000. I sell about 7000 illustrated world coins from http://www.avscoins.com.
Coin appears to be genuine to me; however, the surfaces show signs of corrosion (similar to shipwreck effect coins). If it was fake, I would expect to see a much larger weight difference.

If you still had the coin, I would have suggested a closer look at the surface. Cast coins will have very round small holes and raised metal dots.
Thanks for all your views guys!!

Here's a higher resolution scan of this coin. Maybe this will help?

“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
I have two of them. The 1930 weighs 26,99 gr., the 1897 weighs 26,89 gr., so 26,45 gr. like yours seems too low.
If you're doubting sending it back might be a good idea. Nothing as frustrating as not knowing if a coin is genuine or not.
Quote: "Essor Prof"​I have two of them. The 1930 weighs 26,99 gr., the 1897 weighs 26,89 gr., so 26,45 gr. like yours seems too low.
​If you're doubting sending it back might be a good idea. Nothing as frustrating as not knowing if a coin is genuine or not.

​Yeah weight difference was significant enough for me to doubt it's authenticity.
“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Coins that are rare or valuable are a lot forged by the chinese.
But your coin/date is not specially, I mean, normal price:
https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/great-britain-dollar-km-t5-1895-1935-cuid-43748-duid-125298.
But you should be careful.
You should try some silver tests (search this site)
But even if it is silver, it can be a restrike
Non est totum quod splendet ut aurum
Rijkdom bestaat niet uit het hebben van veel bezittingen, maar in het hebben van weinig behoeften
Thanks for all your feedbacks! I think returning decision was good.
“A man without a hobby is only half alive.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
This is where the ice test is so helpful, l use it on all silver and its my first test.
Taking a break from swapping for a while, but still interested in pre 1799 Spanish coins, I will make time for that!

Looking for pre 1783 coins
Quote: "redsmithstudios"​This is where the ice test is so helpful, l use it on all silver and its my first test.
​Just out of interest, is there any particular reason why you prefer the ice test over density test?
Quote: "sujit_kumar"​Thanks for all your feedbacks! I think returning decision was good.

Definitely! If every time you look at it you're unsure, you won't get any enjoyment from it, just stress.

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