RMW Collection of England and Great Britain

[rmw]

1738 Two Guineas

 

Just purchased this. Not slabbed yet. You have to watch out for Lebanese counterfeits of this date, made in the 1970s. Counterfeits are very good.

 

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[RWB]

Nice! Is it standard sterling (11-gold, 1-silver)?

[rmw]

Ever so slightly less than that. 91.4 % vs 91.6 % gold content.

[RWB]

That's pretty good. Interesting that the RM has many old proof bars and sheets for comparison.

[rmw]

Right. There was a quantity of well made counterfeits produced in Lebanon in the later 1970s. the counterfeiters were precise to the point of duplicating the indentation you can see on the reverse here, as well as some die marks on the obverse. It is very difficult to tell the difference.

It appears that 1739 two guineas were also widely counterfeited. I dont know yet if it is a similar story or not.

so caveat emptor for this date and type.