Hi, i would like to ask an opinion about the following 2 coins i have.
They are 20 centimes French Indochina 1939 and 1941, with points (KM 23a.1 and 23a.2).
Something sounds wrong to my ears: both weights and diameter of the 1941 one are off compared to numista page.
The 1941 has the S mint mark visible with a magnifying glass also.
I would be very happy to have some opinion. Thanks
Weight on the Numista page (at least for the 1941 and I assume the 1939, too) is wrong. It should be 6 g (not 7 g). The weight (6% light from wear) and diameter of your 1939 seems reasonable. Your 1941 coin is so worn I'm not surprised by the weight loss or reduction in diameter. For reference here's the US Mint's report for this coin:
Cita: "rsirian1"Absolutely, a coin worn down from 24 mm to 22.8 mm with corresponding reduction in thickness can lose that much.
I have to agree with cobrapel, this coins screams fake all over it, probably contemporary.
Is it also because of the wear that the angle of the scarf around the neck shifts to almost a straight angle?
And look at the lettering. I understand the lettering will flatten out because of the wear but look at the "F". A very short middle crossbar and a very long upper crossbar and because of wear these are almost equal????? The same for the "E" in the next pictures.
I wasn't really commenting on if it was fake or not. I was just making the point that the extent of wear could account for the low weight. With a diameter of 22.8 mm vs. 24 mm then (assuming a cylinder shape) the thickness would have to be worn down 0.23 mm per side to reduce the weight from 6 g to 4.1 g. That seemed reasonable to me judging by the condition of the coin. Of course, if it started out as a fake it would still be a fake after all that wear.
