Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 11/10/2009

Question
I have an 1869 Spanish 5 Peseta coin that was given to me 38 years ago in Seville Spain by my mother-in-law. I checked it against photos on the web showing close up detail of the coin. I beleive that this coin is not a replica. How can I further check the authencity of the coin?
Thank You

Answer
Hi Robert,
I must say that it's extremely unlikely that this is a genuine coin, especially if it was acquired in Spain where people know about it's rarity. There were only 100 coins minted of this date, and virtually all are spoken for.
An authentic coin like this should weigh 25.0 grams, though one that has wear will be a couple tenths of a gram lighter. A well worn coin can be a gram or more lighter. However, a coin that looks to have sharp details and weighs 24 grams or less is not going to be authentic.
Value on this coin starts at $10,000+ and goes into the 6 figures.
A less likely scenario is that you may have a coin that is slightly heavier, which would likely make it an antique counterfeit. Such an item would still have a collectible value of a couple hundred dollars.
Thanks for the question! =)