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Coin and Paper Money Collecting/1813 Gold George III Military Guinea

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Expert: - 12/29/2009


Question

1813 Gold Coin
Attached photos show a coin I just inherited. It was made into a charm by attaching a ring. Can you "guesstimate" the value. I believe it is an 1813 George III Military Guinea. Can you verify if that is what the coin is? Thank you.

Answer
Hi Andrea,
The design is certainly that of a British half guinea of the 1804 to 1813 type. A full guinea would have slight differences in the position of the portrait in relation to the surrounding legends. Although the surface seems to have been polished, I am confident that it is a solid gold coin. The fact that the loop is soldered onto the coin, rather that having it go through a hole in the coin, is strong evidence of that. Single element metals, such as gold or silver, can be soldered while the alloys used for counterfeits cannot. Base metal or "melchior" would come apart under the high heat.
As far as value: in this condition it would be just a little above gold bullion value. A realistic auction estimate is right around $140-$150.

On a side note, this is also true for jewelry. You will never see a genuine gold chain, for example, where the rings or clasp has been pressed closed and can be pulled open. This would be a sure sign of fake gold, as the real things are soldered and cannot be pulled apart without breaking the piece.

Thanks for the question! =)

Dmitry Livshits

Expertise

My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and 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. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

Experience

Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

Education/Credentials
A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

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