GEORGIVS VD 1917

[Water Bird]

Hello everyone,

I happend to have a gold coin about which i have only less knowledge. I would like my fellow members here to please help me out. I will give you the informations about this coin.

The inscriptions on its obverse is GEORGIV S V D . G . BRITTOMN : REXF : D : IND : IMP :

Date on its inverse 1917

Please referr to this link to see a picture of the coin. The first coin is like mine except the date is 1917. (in the picture here it is 1920) Picture

(i have attached a picture file too, incase the link doesn't work, please reefer the attachement part of this topic)

I also noticed a difference in my coin from the picture on the above link. In my coin it is "BRITTOMN" without a colon. In the picture it is "BRITT:OMN" (with a colon between BRITT and OMN)

Hope i have explained about the coin well so as to analyse it.

My questions are;

1) Is it a rare coin and how much money it worth?

2) Is it a fake coin? (Please not the absence of a colon between BRITT and OMN on its obverse. Is it a problem?)

3) Inverse of my coin has some scratches, is it going to affect its value?

Please pardon my ignorance help me to quench my curiosity. A lot of thanks in advance.

Regards

Waterbird

[declanwmagee]

Hi Waterbird

Sovereigns and Half-sovereigns look identical to each other, so we'll need to know the diameter of your coin - a quick measure with a ruler will do.

And we'll need to see a picture of it, of course...

[Water Bird]

Thank you for the reply declanwmagee. The diameter of the coin is 2 CM. I am attaching an image too. Please have a look at them and let me know what you think. Thanks again.

[VickySilver]

Mandatory picture as you esp . to see if it is NOT a counterfeit and also whether there is a "C" (for Ottawa/Canada mint) at base of horse's hoof on reverse. If no "C", then it could be rare London Mint issue.

[declanwmagee]

Thank you for the reply declanwmagee. The diameter of the coin is 2 CM. I am attaching an image too. Please have a look at them and let me know what you think. Thanks again.

To be a bit more specific on diameters & weights:

Sov: 22mm, 8g

Half Sov: 19mm, 4g

[Water Bird]

So its half sov. Its 4 grams and 19mm diameter. pardon my ignorance. i found it loosely 20mm.

[Water Bird]

I am attaching the inverse too. Please see it. I am not sure whether it is visible in details. inverse is pretty much loaded with some scratches. There is no C below the engraved horse. only 1917 and something like BP or something on the year's right top corner.

[Nick]

I am attaching the inverse too. Please see it. I am not sure whether it is visible in details. inverse is pretty much loaded with some scratches. There is no C below the engraved horse. only 1917 and something like BP or something on the year's right top corner.

You haven't attached any pictures. To do that you need to press "Choose file", then select the file on your computer, then press "Attach this File". You'll also need to ensure that the total size for one post does not exceed 150k bytes. If you cannot reduce the sizes, you can always use an external hosting site (eg PhotoBucket) and then post a link to your files.

[Water Bird]

Picture of inverse. Thank you for the guidlines. I forgot to press attach this file.

[Water Bird]

Picture of obverse

[Coinery]

Picture of obverse

Ahh, that'll be the end of that, then, waterbird!

[Water Bird]

sorry i didn't get you Please please explain..

[Nick]

sorry i didn't get you Please please explain..

I think that Coinery is suggesting that there is the square root of sod all chance of it being a genuine 1917 (half-)sovereign gold coin.

[Peckris]

sorry i didn't get you Please please explain..

The picture is not very good, but from the obverse (which you have the wrong way around) it appears not to be a genuine gold coin, but some kind of repro or fantasy piece. I can't see enough detail on the reverse, but I doubt it is the genuine design? The colour is wrong too, being too green for gold (though that may be your camera).

A better set of pictures - e.g. scans - would help more.

[Coinery]

Yes, sorry, water bird...I meant the end of it being an exciting discovery for you! It's not a genuine G5 gold coin, which also means it's 90%+ unlikely to even be made of gold!

Really sorry, but I would guess few would be interested in it as anything other than a curiosity, and at pennies even for that!

[Accumulator]

Certainly not genuine and unlikely to be made of gold. If you don't have scales it's often possible to feel the weight of a genuine gold coin as it's surprisingly heavy for its size. Lead is often regarded as 'heavy', but gold is getting on for twice the weight of lead. Of course there are lots of caveats to this analysis but it often helps as a crude first test.

[Water Bird]

Thank you guys. I think its the camera that makes it unlikely to be gold. And in the picture OBVERSE IS A MIRROR IMAGE. I mean my camera is a webcam. The letters are not reversed as it is visible in the picture and the head too is a mirror image. I am saying it just if you came to the conclusion based on that. A last hope

[Coinery]

Thank you guys. I think its the camera that makes it unlikely to be gold. And in the picture OBVERSE IS A MIRROR IMAGE. I mean my camera is a webcam. The letters are not reversed as it is visible in the picture and the head too is a mirror image. I am saying it just if you came to the conclusion based on that. A last hope

No, I don't think anyone was put off by the reversal at all, it would have been from the general appearance of the coin that an assessment was made. I don't have an image to hand, but if you type George V half sovereign into google images, you'll see for yourself how one should really look!

[TomGoodheart]

Thank you guys. I think its the camera that makes it unlikely to be gold. And in the picture OBVERSE IS A MIRROR IMAGE. I mean my camera is a webcam. The letters are not reversed as it is visible in the picture and the head too is a mirror image. I am saying it just if you came to the conclusion based on that. A last hope

No, I don't think anyone was put off by the reversal at all, it would have been from the general appearance of the coin that an assessment was made. I don't have an image to hand, but if you type George V half sovereign into google images, you'll see for yourself how one should really look!

Yes, the King's mustache and shape of his head immediately look completely wrong for a genuine coin I'm afraid. Exactly what it is (toy / token / souvenir ..) and what metal it's made from (unless it's hallmarked I suspect base metal) is going to be difficult to tell from the current photos, but an official issue (let alone rare) coin, ... it's not, in my opinion.

[Peckris]

Thank you guys. I think its the camera that makes it unlikely to be gold. And in the picture OBVERSE IS A MIRROR IMAGE. I mean my camera is a webcam. The letters are not reversed as it is visible in the picture and the head too is a mirror image. I am saying it just if you came to the conclusion based on that. A last hope

Aw, sorry I actually reversed the image to see it the correct way round before coming to a verdict. I wonder if your coin is something like this one, but smaller? Or at least, based on it, but more of a fantasy piece? (It looks too dissimilar to a regular sovereign to be an outright forgery).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1911-GEORGE-V-COPPER-PROOF-PATTERN-CROWN-st-george-slaying-dragon-/400300456963?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D4984593766209269327%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D2%26sd%3D300826973851%26

Edited January 19, 2013 by Peckris

[Water Bird]

I found your answers very much helpful. At least i am relieved from the chain of expectations!

Anyway i took this picture on a friend's camera. So just uploading it. Now i pray this metal is gold itself! Just see and if any opinion changes, that would be a miracle.

Thank you guys, thank you for spending some time for me.

[Water Bird]

And guys just to confirm as i mentioned earlier in my coin it is BRITTOMN without a colon. But in all the specimens i saw online there is a colon between BRITT and OMN (BRITT:OMN) That only means mine is just a fake. right? (the head seems similar to me, my coin and the pictures on the net)

I want to confirm because i actually took this coin to sell it out (urgently in need of money). Then thought of this side, started browsing about sovereigns. So if it is not a sovereign i just want to sell it out tomorrow itself. Please dont think i am boring you

Edited January 19, 2013 by Water Bird

[Peckris]

And guys just to confirm as i mentioned earlier in my coin it is BRITTOMN without a colon. But in all the specimens i saw online there is a colon between BRITT and OMN (BRITT:OMN) That only means mine is just a fake. right? (the head seems similar to me, my coin and the pictures on the net)

I want to confirm because i actually took this coin to sell it out (urgently in need of money). Then thought of this side, started browsing about sovereigns. So if it is not a sovereign i just want to sell it out tomorrow itself. Please dont think i am boring you

Your second picture is awful, really awful. But the coin looks a little bit more like the real thing in it. I still don't think it is, but GOOD pictures would let us know for sure.

[Water Bird]

sorry. will upload a decent picture asap.

[Water Bird]

Was busy for a couple of days. Finally scanned the coin. Hope this would be helpful to arrive at a conclusion. Please, Please help me out