Michael,
Have no idea who altered the butt and added the gold coin. I acquired the knife off Ebay in 2007 and at the time I knew enough about RMK's to know that the shop did not add the coin, but I thought it was interesting and got it anyway. It was a Buy Now not an Auction and I knew the coin was worth at least $200 at the time by itself.
A couple months later I was at the shop and everyone there was able to look at the knife, Gary, Scott and Jason. They all confirmed that the knife did not leave the shop that way nor was it altered by the shop. Gary informed me that the silver part that the coin is attached to was in fact fine silver and the spacer underneath was likely brass or similar. All agreed that the coin was probably attached with some sort of epoxy. Gary concluded by saying it appeared to be very good workmanship.
As it is today, the coin itself is worth close to $300. I think it is likely an older RMK that was cleaned up and modified because there is some very small pitting that was buffed out and there is some light scratching on the blade from either use or sharpening but all in all I think it is an interesting piece.
_________________________
Tom
RKS #5553