I got a batch of A-22 air-tites in today and started putting some gold sovereigns inside, and I noticed that one of them (1911) would not fit into the direct-fit airtite (22mm), it would not lie flat in the circular indentation in the plastic holder. I got a few other comparable sovereigns and they fit fine.
I started thinking that the 1911 was possibly fake because all other sovereigns fit fine in the airtite holder.
I took some measurements as best I could and there's nothing that really sticks out in comparison with the others I measured.
Am I unnecessarily worried about a 110+ year old coin that didn't get struck with the exact right dimensions to make it fit into a plastic holder? Perhaps it's not perfectly circular or flat.
If the coin in question fit in the airtite fine, I would have no reason to consider it as possibly suspect since it passes all my tests (sigma, magnet, dimension weight, ping test, etc).
Year Diameter Thickness Grams Sigma Fits in A22 airtite?
1911 22.26mm 1.58mm 8.0 mid - 2 No, won't lie flat inside unless I force it in
1928 22.07mm 1.52mm 8.0 mid - 1 Yes
1903 22.24mm 1.56mm 8.0 mid - 1 Yes
I can only say that the tolerances for gold coinage where very small even back then and there are countless counterfeits. Look at articles about the specific years on the internet.
"First gold sovereign was produced in 1817 with gold 916,66 ‰ (22 carats) and had a diameter of 22 mm; these features are still in force today. Official weight is 7.98805 grams, then the content of pure gold is 7,322325913 grams; these coins, when circulated, lost their legal status when weight fell below 7,93787 grams: margin of tolerance was 0,05018 grams."
How does the 1903 fit in the 22 when being the same size as the 1911?