King William III 1797 silver coin

[sherrs]

Hello,

Please would anyone be able to tell me about this coin? It is silver, King William III from 1797. I have tried to research by myself but am going round in circles as there are different versions that look similar and I can't work out which one I have or how much it is worth etc!

My photos aren't great, it is shinier that it looks. The bust side doesn't have a letter to say where it was minted -I don't understand why not.

Any info would be very much appreciated. If you need me to type up what the lettering says, I can do this.

Coin measures approx 22mm in diameter.

Many thanks

Ruth

[ski]

william 3rd but 1697......i think a 1st bust sixpence, spink3531.

[Paulus]

Hello,

Please would anyone be able to tell me about this coin? It is silver, King William III from 1797. I have tried to research by myself but am going round in circles as there are different versions that look similar and I can't work out which one I have or how much it is worth etc!

My photos aren't great, it is shinier that it looks. The bust side doesn't have a letter to say where it was minted -I don't understand why not.

Any info would be very much appreciated. If you need me to type up what the lettering says, I can do this.

Coin measures approx 22mm in diameter.

Many thanks

Ruth

I think only the provincial mints had letters, the London Mint did not

[ski]

1697 sixpence spink as previously mentioned, also known as small crown varient.......ski

[Peckris]

I think it's a contemporary forgery. It appears to be silver washed with base metal showing through.

[sherrs]

I think it's a contemporary forgery. It appears to be silver washed with base metal showing through.

Thanks everyone! sorry about typo, I meant 1697! I think part of my subconscious wouldn't let me believe it was that old. Is there a way to tell for sure whether it is real or a forgery. Are forgeries still of historical interest?

The marks are substance on the surface, green in tonation in places. I dug it up this afternoon metal detecting and am refraining from cleaning it, though I would love to get those marks off!

Thanks again for all your replies, I am very grateful!

[azda]

I think it's a contemporary forgery. It appears to be silver washed with base metal showing through.

Unfortunately i'm agreeing with the old codger here, looks silver washed. Can you weigh it?

[Red Riley]

I think it's a contemporary forgery. It appears to be silver washed with base metal showing through.

Curiously I bought a shilling like that on e-bay a couple of years ago but returned it as a forgery. The strange thing however is that the obvious metal to use as a base is copper and there's no sign of that coming through. I've seen some odd results on coins that have been recovered from shipwrecks. Does asnybody have a note of the weight these things are supposed to be as that should point us somewhere in the right direction?

[Generic Lad]

Since it was dug it is possible it is just a lot of silver pitting. Weight would tell for sure but I'm not sure what William III sixpences are supposed to weigh.

[ski]

Weight would tell for sure but I'm not sure what William III sixpences are supposed to weigh.

3g

[numismatist]

Nice find, and it looks genuine to me. If the weight is correct I would not doubt it.

The specks could well be Iron or some other metal that has disolved in the soil it was

in. As for cleaning, be very careful not to rub it , as it appears pretty well as it was

struck as regards underlying condition and must have been pretty well mint when it was lost.

Its best left as it is, apart from soaking for a few days in a mild soapy solution, as

once things go wrong in cleaning, it pretty well impossible to reverse whats been done.

[Peckris]

Nice find, and it looks genuine to me. If the weight is correct I would not doubt it.

The specks could well be Iron or some other metal that has disolved in the soil it was

in. As for cleaning, be very careful not to rub it , as it appears pretty well as it was

struck as regards underlying condition and must have been pretty well mint when it was lost.

Its best left as it is, apart from soaking for a few days in a mild soapy solution, as

once things go wrong in cleaning, it pretty well impossible to reverse whats been done.

If you look closely - especially the reverse - you will see that the surface layer is a silvery colour that's peeling off in places to show a darker metal underneath. On a genuine silver coin I would expect the surface to tarnish quite badly, but with perhaps a few brighter spots showing through where the tarnish has been affected by the unearthing process. This seems to be the opposite. Something about its surface just doesn't look right, though the design appears to be absolutely right.