Expert: Brad Swain - 11/27/2009

Question
money la valeur svp

Answer
Hi Martin, If silver dollar sized it may be a Spanish-Mexican 8 Reales. That design features King Philip V (1700-46). The M and F are the Mexico City mint's assayers' initials. The Mexico City mintmark is an M with a small o over it. It should weigh 27.067 grams and would contain .7980 of an ounce of silver.
Collector value depends on date, number minted and condition of a coin, including amount of wear, any dents, scratches or cleaning. This one may be worth about $50 with heavy wear to maybe $250 with moderate wear to possibly $450 with light wear. You might also try a library for a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Coins for pictures, values and lots more interesting info.
The “Spanish Milled Dollar” and its fractions were the principal currency through the early 1800s in U.S. everyday circulation and were legal tender as late as 1857.
You might find similar pieces on Ebay.com for comparison. These sites are also a great info source:
http://carlclegg.com/pillars/design.html .
http://www.coinsite.com/content/faq/8RealesMilledPillar.asp .
Counterfeits and fantasy pieces mass produced in East Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe abound of Chinese and U.S. coins, and many other countries'.
Most older counterfeits weigh up light, are grayish, may have a weakly struck look to appear worn, look cleaned or antiqued and may have a dull or grainy surface or have typographical errors. Newer ones show that the counterfeiters are refining their skills and obtaining planchets of the right weight to produce passable counterfeits. Weighing it may be the best test of its genuineness.
Fakes: http://reviews.ebay.com/Fake-8-4-and-2-Reales-coins-from-ASIA-BEWARE_W0QQugidZ10...
Chinese counterfeit factory: http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/Chinese-Counterfeiting-Ring/Chinese-Fake... .
Brad