Columbia/colombia300
Previous | Home | NextThis is an example of a counterfeit coin, with a mint date of 1856 and with an assigned value of 100 reales (pronounced "re-ah-les"). The metal is platinum, gilded (plated) with gold. Since the density of gold and platinum are the same (20 g/cc), to casual inspection it appeared as a genuine gold coin. At the time platinum was cheaper than gold, because platinum had yet to realize the industrial uses of modern days (platinum is used, for example, as the catalyst in automobile catalytic converters).
