Jubilee Five Pound Coin - Underweight?

[Bennythewolf]

Hello. THis is my first post. I'm a (very) amateur collector and am concerned about a possibly spurious coin and would welcome any advice.

It's a 1887 gold £5, which looks right, feels right, is in reasonable condition with no obvious wear. Only problem:- it weighs 39.7g instead of about 40g. Is there any way this can be right, or have I been sold a pup?

Advice and assistance appreciated,

Cheers,

Ben

[Chris Perkins]

It should weigh 39.9g, so the 0.2g is probably just slight wear.

Doesn't mean it's real though. Often fake ones were made of good gold and are about the right weight too. The surface quality should confirm it as real.

[Red Riley]

Hello. THis is my first post. I'm a (very) amateur collector

You can't be that much of an amateur if you own one of these!

[Bennythewolf]

Hello. THis is my first post. I'm a (very) amateur collector

You can't be that much of an amateur if you own one of these!

Cheers Red,

I am if it's a duffer though!

[Red Riley]

I am if it's a duffer though!

We are all (rightly) wary of coins being forgeries, but the majority of these could be told a mile off. You say that it looks right but is very marginally underweight. I still think the chances of it being genuine far outweigh those of it being a dud, and the odds increase dramatically if you got it from a reputable source. On the other hand if it came from China...

[Chris Perkins]

I had a fake 1887 £5 once, made of good gold that actually looked pretty good.

[Bennythewolf]

Having looked at it again, I think it's been mounted in the past. even worse, it looks as if it may have been cleaned at some stage! I've pu a couple of pictures on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36306853@N03/...in/photostream/