Is this gold coin real or made to deceive?

Found in a hidden compartment of an old jewelry box. The rest of the stuff in there with this was kind of junky so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was from a gum ball machine.

Diameter is right about .700 of an inch and it weighs 4.2 g.

 

Shoot! I posted the same side twice. Hang on, I’ll get the other side for you.

 

Such a thing existed and it would be counterfeiting to reproduce it accurately so I suspect it's real. They do have value. This will help you evaluate condition.

https://coinappraiser.com/coins/value-of-1908-indian-head-2-50-gold-2/

Debora

 

I'll ask over on cointalk and see what they say

 

a hidden compartment of an old jewelry box........is always a good sign !!!!!

 

So Nancy Drew!

Debora

 

Thank you for that site, Debora. I am concerned by the weight being slightly heavier than they state it should be. Could be that my little digital scale is off … probably should check that out.

 

Thank you so much! I’m not a member over there since I hardly ever run across any coins. I appreciate you doing this.

 

The 2 1/2 gold is one of the more frequently counterfeited US coins. Here is some info: https://www.ngccoin.com/resources/counterfeit-detection/top/united-states/14/

 

I was hoping … but not certain.
Besides this coin and a Mexican 50 centavos coin from 1967, there was a bunch of religious medals, a plastic rosary, a wood toggle button, and a few metal crosses that I think are supposed to get mounted on your dash board (they come with double sided tape on their bases). Good thing the box is kind of cute and didn’t cost much.
It was kind of cool driving home wondering if there was really anything in there or if it was just loose parts of the music box rattling around in there.

 

Thanks for that, smallaxe. I wish they would have posted a close up of what the neck on a genuine coin looks like next to that counterfeit one because I'm not really sure what type of "tool marks" I should be looking for.

 

the weight should be a key factor.....i'd think !

 

Yeah, our scale just isn't accurate enough. It registered 4.2 g then changed to 4.1g after sitting there a bit. Will be taking it to the coin dealer tomorrow. Would think that they should have a pretty accurate scale.

 

The consensus of opinion on cointalk is that it looks real.
Quotes are........


Based only on the photo details, I don't detect an issue for regular strike.
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Looks completely fine to me.

Weight should be at 4.18g, though it appears to be a LOT thinner than 70% of an inch in the pic.
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Diameter and weight is correct... Details look correct... Seems fine to me.

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Wouldn't trust it..........

 

That coin has one of my most favorite US coin designs. I hope you found the real deal.

 

How kind of you to post on Coin Talk and report back.

Debora

 

He has a couple of dings on his face, but he's looking pretty NICE.... hoping for YOU, he's real, @quirkygirl!!!!

 

It registered 4.2 g then changed to 4.1g after sitting there a bit.

Weight should be at 4.18g,

that's a good sign !!

 

Thank you @Bdigger !!! So much quicker (and more replies) than expected. Very nice of you to do this and relay what they posted.

 

My Pleasure. You can't be 100% until you get it checked out by somebody "in hand" . It is one of the 20 most faked coins out there. But the guys on Cointalk are pretty good at spotting fakes!