It depicts the Vatican City and the Pope, so I'm thinking it's some kind of souvenir from the Vatican City (no shocker there). Those marks under the courtyard (and it says "ITALY" in small letters) will probably identify the manufacturer. It looks way too good to be a Chinese fantasy which is nice.
I tend to agree with above guy. The metal looks like it has rust on back. And just saying but the Vatican City is pretty wealthy, the front of that coin, the mouth looks pretty shoddy. If that is patina, then sure it is silver.
Bull, that isn't rust, it's a discolouration. The metal is white, looks white through a tissue, rings like silver, cuts through an icecube like it was butter and you can feel the cold on the edges almost as soon as the icecube hits the coin. It is most definitely silver and quite a high grade of silver too.
Here's probably the same maker from China(left coin)
Right coin is real.
The really quick way to tell if it's fake: wet the coin, let it on the window for a day. It will probably rust really hard.
Whether it's silver or not is not up for debate. It is most definitely silver. It's only 2 mm larger than a UK sterling half crown and is a full 2.5 grams heavier.
I'll do a density test tonight when I get home to prove it, but I know for certain that this coin is at least the 83.5% silver that Vatican coins usually are but most likely higher. Please stop arguing about it's authenticity, I just want to know what it is.
Here are three links, last is to the numista cata link.
Hope I helped
Barnabus
********Edit***********
That is not your coin on numista website, your coin has a smaller head, at least I think. Very similar though, I will keep checking, and if you post after this, I will reply. Otherwise I will just add another edit with a link if I can find one.
Yeah, I've found several that look similar, but many like the first one you linked to are obviously cu-ni versions since they're the same size but are a lot lighter than mine.
I think nalaberong is correct that they're a Vatican souvenir. I'll have to do the density test tonight to find out just how much silver is in mine.
Citeer: neilithicYeah, I've found several that look similar, but many like the first one you linked to are obviously cu-ni versions since they're the same size but are a lot lighter than mine.
I think nalaberong is correct that they're a Vatican souvenir. I'll have to do the density test tonight to find out just how much silver is in mine.
The Chinese wouldn't bother to fake this. There's plenty of the medallic souvenirs and they will only be worth silver price.
If you like coins, medals and tokens with ship motives follow my new instagram account with regular updates @numisnautiker
From time to time I sell some coins on Ebay make sure to follow me @apuking on Ebay.
For older papal medals there are books but from the 80's it gets more difficult to find info. Many are made from small private mints, some actually might have been minted in China.
If you like coins, medals and tokens with ship motives follow my new instagram account with regular updates @numisnautiker
From time to time I sell some coins on Ebay make sure to follow me @apuking on Ebay.
Citeer: neilithicI did a density test and it comes in at about 75% silver, not entirely accurate but accurate enough to see that it's definitely not cu-ni.
So do you think the last link I sent you on here is the coin you have? The features definitely match up, but the numista section does not list the metal content. But the coin pictured on numista could have tarnish on it badly. I would think though that since they sold this coin in V.C. as silver, then they probably made other metal types for people who couldn't afford the silver price. Which could be the coin on the numista page. I would suggest making a new listing on Numista cata unless you can find a better representation of the coin.
I was in Rome, I have seen the vatican.
And I saw hundreds of different tokens/medals....
If it is silver it can be made by the vatican, they also know where the money is
Non est totum quod splendet ut aurum
Rijkdom bestaat niet uit het hebben van veel bezittingen, maar in het hebben van weinig behoeften
- I've now got the weight - 14.66 grams,
- and Dia 35mm
- suspicious about this being just a silver wash
- although there are some rainbow tones in the finish
I got identical coins from the Vatican in 1983. I have 6 with Paul 2 on one side and different scene on the back. I actually bought them in the Vatican gift store.
Each side has the word ITALY and what looks like 2 wave lines over a bar. Each weighs ½ troy oz.
Does anyone know what the tiny mark by ITALY is? It's so small I can't get a good picture. I don't see anything with the silver content
