Well I went back the
shop today and took a second look at this coin. The definition on the
obverse side wasn't as crisp as the definition of the other Queen
Victoria coins that they
had in the
shop. Then I came across a silver George V coin that was also a brockade (what are the chances eh ?). The definition of the
obverse on this coin was even less crisp, and when I compared to another silver George V coin of the same size (and
bust) it felt some what lighter in the hand. I tested them with a magnet but could only conclude they weren't iron/steel. Previously he let me spin the Queen
Victoria coin on a hard surface and the sound didn't seem quite right (although my experience of doing this is a
bit limited). As I said in my first post the
shop owner said he wasn't sure if they were genuine or replicas, but its my opinion now is that he was probably just saying this to try to make the sale. At 50 quid a
pop I left them well alone.
So magnet test, spinning for the sound, and comparing to other coins (
weight & definition) any other methods for checking if silver coins are genuine ?