Does size matter?

[Guest ajj]

I have acquired (cheaply) an Italian States Naples and Sicily 120 Grana coin dated 1859 which to all intents and purposes is KM#161. The problem is it is about half the size of the photo in the 1999 Krause at 26mm as opposed to 36mm in the photo. Given that the photos are usually life size, does this mean I have a model, fake, or other imitation of the real thing, or were smaller varieties minted. You will see from the scan that the coin certainly looks genuine, even under a loupe.

[Chris Perkins 228]

I don't know much about Italian coins, but the coin in that image looks very crude to me, not what you'd expect from a Western nation at that time.

Having said that though, the Krause pictures aren't always the right size. For example, the Britannia British groats of WIV and VIC have been shown as the same size as the maundy groat for some time...Which is wrong, they should be the same size as a threepence.

[aleroit2000 0]

Hi,

I can tell you that according my italian coin book, the 120 grana coin is 37mm diameter and 27.53 gr.

But I think that this coin is quite.... strange....

letters of the obverse are "strange", and also the "120" on the reverse.

How is the edge? It should be "PROVIDENTIA OPTIMI PRINCIPIS"

[Guest ajj]

Edge is blank, too thin for writing and at 5.1 gramms one would have to assume that it couldn't possibly be a fake - it wouldn't fool anyone. Did the Italians go in for model coinage like the Victorians?