Question about restrikes

Im new at collecting coins, so please bare with me if my question is "amateurish".

My question is, are "restrikes" exactly the same as the original coins, or do they have a hidden symbol or way to find out that they are in fact "restrikes" and not authentic coins?

I ask because I would imagine somebody could take a recent "restrike" of an old coin and artificially make it look older than it is and pass it off as an "original". As I am starting to collect coins, that has me uneasy since it makes me doubt the authenticity of some coins that have been "restriked" as much as a century after the original coin was minted.

Other than the fact that restrikes look newer, are there any other ways to tell the difference?

 

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Welcome to the forum, and to the hobby.

Sometimes.

The most famous restrikes are those of the Maria Therese Thaler, which are still being churned out by the Austrian Mint. Click here for an interesting history and discussion, including information on how to identify the originals and restrikes.

Other "restrikes" have been produced with new dies, and those can usually be distinguished if you know what to look for.

The true restrikes, produced from original dies and using original metal compositions, are generally indistinguishable from originals, although in some cases experts can tell the difference.

Generally restrikes are not as big a problem as contemporary counterfeits, or modern "replicas".

 

If,I were you,you should give restrikes the widest possible berth,as they are done usually to deceive collectors.

 

Aidan - since he asked about how to tell whether a particular coin is or is not a restrike, don't you think a post giving him some guidance on that question would be of more use than a platitude about avoiding them?

 

Thanks Satootoko for your response,

I guess what I'm basically worried about are counterfeit coins in general. I recently bought a really nice 1895 20 cent coin from Puerto Rico (when it was a Spanish colony) from E-bay. The seller has sold over 6,000 coins this past year, does not have one negative remark about him, and the coin itself shows no obvious signs of being a fake, so I really have no reason to doubt its authenticity, however I always have that bit of doubt in the back of my mind, sort of like the "you never know" thought.

It is the first coin I buy, and I bought it not so much as a coin collector, but because I am very into the history and heritage of Puerto Rico (where I'm from).

I'm very excited about the coin, however I would just like to be as close to 100% certain as possible that it is not a fake. I'm probably just being paranoid for no reason since I'm new at collecting coins. I have been reading up on how to detect fakes, and am slowly learning the basics. I'll probably have it checked out by a professional sometime in the future, however since I'm new at this, I have to first find out how that works as well.

Thanks again

 

Sorry,Roy.I was not trying to cause any offence.I was advising IslandCoins to be very careful regarding restrikes.Apart from the Maria Theresa Thaler,other examples of restrikes to be very careful
of is the Liechtenstein gold 1 Ducat,which is dated 1778,the Austrian 4 Ducats dated 1915,& the Mexican gold 2 Pesos dated 1945.

 

Some restrikes are the same , most not

First: a RESTRIKE is made officially , otherwise it is a FAKE.
Second: some like I saw for an Albanian coin, seems to be the same shape as originals, most resrikes are not exactly as the originals , the differences are in the mint marks, as the Maria Teresia thalers , where originals have mint marks on either side of emblem , (I have an original) where restrikes have mint mark under the bust of Maria Teresia on the other side.

 

That depends on your definition of "officially". Most numismatists consider any coin struck from an original die to be a restrike, even when the die was used without proper government authorization - for instance by insurgents taking over a mint location, or a mint employee smuggling dies out of the mint for personal use.

 

Then there are novadels which are coins made by the original government with new backdated dies. (Technically the Maria Theresa Thalers are novadels not restrikes.)

The Russians were really big on making novadels with the actual date of striking on the edge.

 

Do you classify re-strikes alongside `fakes' or something Aidan? There is a big difference

There are many coinages that have seen official re-strikes sometimes using the original dies. The coinage of colonial India springs to mind as being rich in the numbers of official `re-strikes'. There was absolutelty no intent to `deceive' involved with these either.

Ian