Gothic Crown

[ozjohn 662]

I went into Brisbane today and looked in a coin shop. There was a 1847 gothic crown described as about UNC with a few surface marks for $AU 3725 approx. GBP 1863. Is this too good to be true? The dealer assured me that it was genuine. To be fair I have brought coins from this dealer in the past and have always been happy with the grading and price of the coins I have brought in fact the dealer seems to be conservative in their grading. Assuming this seems to be a reasonable deal is there any thing to look for with fake gothic crowns. Any information would be gratefully received. Thanks

[azda 979]

These gothic crown fakes are very very good, until we can pin down the exact points of working out how To spot One the ONLY other suggestion (if you bought it) would be to send it to CGS seeing as You know the dealer i assume he'd take it back if it were found to be fake.

The price seems good, so its a tough call. Ask him where he bought it/got it, was it part exchanged for something, does He know how to spot a fake etc? If not, how does HE know it's genuine, explain your concerns.

Caveat, if the price is too good to be true then i'd still be wary

[Nick 329]

I would say look at the edge inscription. This seems to be the hardest part to fake convincingly. It should be a well formed gothic script, nicely centred (top to bottom) all the way around.

[ozjohn 662]

Thanks for the advice. I looked at the edge inscription and it looked pretty good. When I go into Brisbane I'll have another look if the coin is still for sale.

[VickySilver 836]

As much as I Love Vicky silver (can you tell?), I have avoided this coin like the plague because of price vs. rarity issues mainly. But the price looks decent - not outrageously cheap; CC has had a few somewhere in this range by recollection as well.

It would be important to know - is the coin attractive? There are many coins in AU category that fall either way. Do you detect any hairlines, and how does it appear in GOOD light...I agree edges are very important as well.

[Garrett 76]

If you search through this forum there is one or more threads with other indicators for the Gothic crown.

I would say IMO the price of these and the 'thumpers has been beaten down due to the concern about fakes.

Good luck !

[Peter 615]

There are threads on here and on Community.com

This and the 1763 shilling I can live without.

[ozjohn 662]

Thanks I have looked on coincommunity.com it seems the salient points are the alignment of the et in the side inscription and the Vic in the legend and the quality of the side inscription as suggested by Nick.

The differences seem to be illustrated very well. There are also pictures showing a good coin and a fake showing small differences in the strike but I think the edge inscription seems the most telling as it is probably the hardest to reproduce.

[Garrett 76]

Cool John.

Let us know (and a pic or two) if you get the coin. Next time I have a day off I might visit a few shops and see if it is still around.

There was a nice one at Colonial Collectables for 4k NZD that was on the website for ages last year, so 3750 AUD for one aU sounds about the going rate.

cheers

Garrett.