1994 Greek 50 Drachmes in 925 Gold

Came across this one recently, but can not find any information online for it. 

27mm

18g

4mm thick (piedfort)

stamped 925

Hoping someone can help point me in the right direction.

A coin made of gold in this dimension should have a weight more than 30g.

There are more strange facts. 925 is not an usual finess of gold.

Never heard of greek piedford coins.

Never heard that Greece was producing the same type of coin with different material (like UK). The normal version of this coin is Al-Br and greek gold coins are having high face values..

Stefan0205 -

Perhaps it's gold-plated 925 silver. 

Exectly this coin: N#7212

I agree that it is very strange because Greece didn't produce these types of piedforts in the 1990s as the UK did.

Thanks. The strangeness is not lost on me, hence why I am enquiring. Not sure if I should get tested or just sell as is with available information at hand.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to contact the Bank of Greece asking for confirmation that it wasn't stuck by the government.

infocoins@bankofgreece.gr

It is common practice for gold plated Sterling silver jewelry to have the same stamp of 925. Honest jewelers will disclose this to the purchaser but these products are intended to make wearing  “gold” looking jewelry more affordable and there is nothing wrong with this practice as long as it is disclosed.  I think this coin is attempting to borrow the practice to confuse the unsuspecting of implied higher value of a solid gold base material. It all comes down to marketing and profit.

nobody

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to contact the Bank of Greece asking for confirmation that it wasn't stuck by the government.

infocoins@bankofgreece.gr

Great idea… I'll send them an email.

harryg

It is common practice for gold plated Sterling silver jewelry to have the same stamp of 925. Honest jewelers will disclose this to the purchaser but these products are intended to make wearing  “gold” looking jewelry more affordable and there is nothing wrong with this practice as long as it is disclosed.  I think this coin is attempting to borrow the practice to confuse the unsuspecting of implied higher value of a solid gold base material. It all comes down to marketing and profit.

It also could have been struck in sterling silver and plated afterward it left wherever it was minted.

nobody

 

It also could have been struck in sterling silver and plated afterward it left wherever it was minted.

I don't think it's heavy enough with those dimensions to be made from silver.  I'd expect the weight to be closer to 23-24 g if made from .900 - 1.000 silver.  Quick estimate of density with those dimensions gives about 7.9 g/cc.

One type of aluminum bronze, C62500 (13% aluminum) has a density of 7.2 g/cc.  I don't know what type aluminum bronze the real coin is but it seems likely that the coin in this post is plated aluminum bronze.