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About Dmitry Livshits
Expertise
My specialty is in foreign/world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries. This includes all regular circulation issues, commemorative coinage and non-circulating medallic issues. I also have knowledge in related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them.

Experience
Collector of world coins since early childhood (age 4), dealer in world coins and related items for roughly 7 years (including the past 4 years on eBay). Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook and my eBay seller id is Pallsoma.

Organizations
Boy Scouts of America

Education/Credentials
Regents diploma from Brooklyn Technical high school (2000), A.S. in Psychology (2004), A.S. in Mental Health/Human Services (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), Graduate study in Forensic Psychology (2008 - present)

Past/Present Clients
I have had over 1,000 clients in more than 40 countries.

You are here: Experts > Shopping > Coin Collecting > Coin Collecting > Austrian Gold

Coin Collecting - Austrian Gold

Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 11/6/2009

Question
I recently received about 400 coins from a seller in Germany. Included in this lot is a coin that looks like a gold, 1892 4 Florin/10 Franc coin (KM# 2260-Austria). The coin wasn't featured in the listing so I have my doubts that it is authentic. The coin's value would be about $95, based on the current gold market. That coin alone would exceed my cost of the entire lot of coins. The bottom line is, how do I authenticate the coin?

Answer
Hi Gary,
In my personal experience, the German dealers usually know their stuff quite well. However, this year is a re-strike only date, and has little numismatic value beyond that of the gold. So, if ANY date from this series turns up in a lot, it would most likely be the 1892.
Any jeweler can confirm the authenticity of the coin. Usually they will charge $5 or so for the service, but if they think you want to sell it they will perform the test for free.
You can also check the dimensions. If your coin is 19mm in diameter and weighs 3.2-3.3 grams, you can be confident it's authentic (just check to make sure the coin is not abnormally thick).
Since gold is much more dense than other metals, it would be virtually impossible to change the material while preserving the dimensions.
Let me know what it turns out to be.
Thanks for the question! =)

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