contemporary counterfeit

[drakesterling]

Looks like a (lead?) contemporary counterfeit. Interesting piece.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Scarce-1919M-KGV-Two-Shillings-/251194027820?pt=AU_Coins2&hash=item3a7c54af2c

[emu666]

Looks like a (lead?) contemporary counterfeit. Interesting piece.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Scarce-1919M-KGV-Two-Shillings-/251194027820?pt=AU_Coins2&hash=item3a7c54af2c

Yes it is almost certainly lead. More interesting are the forgeries such as the 1928 shilling and the 1926-31 florins which are silver.

[markn]

such as the 1928 shilling

I've been looking for one of those for a long time.  Yours is still the only one I've seen.

[robbiegal]

nothing to do with forgeries - but how do I find the lastest post on a thread? I find myself wading through a lot of posts and still can't seem to find the latest post unless it's a small thread like this one. cheers Rob

[Nevol]

Under the Banner (top left) look for this:


click on View Unread Posts and a list of all posts unread by you will come up.  In the right hand column, right click on last post  in each one, and you will be taken to the most recent post in each category.

[robbiegal]

Under the Banner (top left) look for this:


click on View Unread Posts and a list of all posts unread by you will come up.  In the right hand column, right click on last post  in each one, and you will be taken to the most recent post in each category.

Cheers - thanks heaps!!

[enworb]

I have a couple of the florins but havent seen a shilling.

[goatieman23]

I have seen a Sixpence, I should have brought it, but instead I brought a 1973 50c. (16.66g, slightly deeper).
I have 13 Florins: 1914, 1927, 1931, 1934, 1935, 2 x 1936, 2 x 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942 & 1943. They vary in weight from 8.02g to 9.07g
I have one Crown: 1937. This one is cast, I had two (I gave one away as a gift). The one I still have weighs 18.93g.

I've gotta head to the gym, I'll reply later, if anyone wants to know more.

[echidna]

[attachment=623]
Anyone know anything about this one ?
Especially its method of manufacture.
Its base metal.
I've seen another example so its not a one-off.

[goatieman23]

There are a few good articles on the net about contemporary counterfeits. There are also many about the fakes/forgeries/counterfeits & etc.

Many people who collect contemporary counterfeits will know a little about the Twible & Manders, who devised an almighty scheme which eventually saw them Twible & Manders

Below is a great article (PDF) put together by the DrakeSterling site which has some more detail:
http://www.drakesterling.com/CustomPageFiles/Counterfeits.pdf

I'm sure you'll find lots of reading on the net.

[drakesterling]

Totally forgot about that article. I mustn't take credit for it. I believe it was written by Sydney variety expert Fred Lever.

[emu666]

Finally found images for the 1928 shilling

Forgery
Obverse

Reverse

The obverse lettering does not look quite correct and the reverse is much more like a genuine coin except for the blob on the emu's leg. On worn examples (i.e. almost all), the only real way you can tell the difference is that blob.

Genuine reverse

[markn]

Thanks Peter There's an interesting article in an old ACR about the Chinese gentleman who was travelling to Australia from China with rolls of these in his suitcase.  He'd land in Sydney and go to the nearest bank to exchange them for good currency.  This was in the 1920's/30's.  Chinese counterfeit coins are not a new problem

[emu666]

Thanks Peter There's an interesting article in an old ACR about the Chinese gentleman who was travelling to Australia from China with rolls of these in his suitcase.  He'd land in Sydney and go to the nearest bank to exchange them for good currency.  This was in the 1920's/30's.  Chinese counterfeit coins are not a new problem

These are mentioned in Vince Kelly's "The Shadow" which is about Frank Fahy who was an undercover detective in Sydney from the 1920s to 1940s. As are Manders and Twible. The book has been out of print for nearly 70 years and is very difficult to source. if you'd like to borrow my copy you are welcome.

[drakesterling]

Thanks for the book reference emu666. Just picked one up on EBay. There is one more left, if interested.