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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,556 |
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New Member
Bosnia And Herzegovina
3 Posts |
Hi to everyone, I'm new member on this forum, registered hoping to get some information about ancient gold coin that friend of mine got somewhere years ago. I did some research and found little information about it, just some basics. I'm hoping to get some information, direction where I can get some more info or estimated value of this coin. Found this site about this coin: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s2415.htmlSorry for my bad grammar   Edited by MrRango
01/02/2019 08:26 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
 A gold coin from the Balkans area is always a concern in terms of authenticity. The design looks okay and it doesn't look cast, but really you'd need a professional opinion concerning any gold in such a situation. Edited by Ben
01/02/2019 09:36 am
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New Member
 Bosnia And Herzegovina
3 Posts |
Yeah I know I should find a proffesional who can confirm authenticity, but I'm from Balkan in Europe, and there's no many proffesionals to find...
But I'm wondering how I can't find it anywhere on web, only on 2-3 places find it.
And what do you mean by "coin from Balkan area", does it mean it was used usually on that region, not in entire empire. I dont have any knowledge about this subject...
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Moderator
 United States
188213 Posts |
to the Community! |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Gold being as valuable as it is, people were much more careful with it. If a coin was only produced for a short time, only a single example might have survived to the modern day. Examples from hoards tend to make their way to museums instead of the internet, unlike hoards of copper coins.
The problem with coins from the Balkans area is that most of the highly skilled forgers of the modern day are there. Many people find themselves caught out by highly accurate coins produced in the last 20 years in the area. The quality and quantity of the balkan fakes is unmatched. The coins arent necessarily from that area - the workshops will produce and sell coins from far flung places that could never have circulated locally.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
to the community From the photos the coin appears to be genuine, however as Ben pointed out at part of the world are suspect. The only way to tell for sure is to take the coin to and expert for examination. |
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Valued Member
Canada
242 Posts |
I'm not completely convinced by it, and would not buy such a coin myself.
However I would not completely rule it out as being real.
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New Member
Bosnia And Herzegovina
3 Posts |
It has been brought to some jewelery stores, and they've said yes it's gold, but not sure about history behind it, and they adviced not to sell it before doing some research. But unfortunately we don't have many experts in out area to get more info.
I'm gona try reach some musseums to get in contact for more info.
Just in curiosity, what do you think is estimated value of this coin, or what are approximate value coins similar to this.
Again, sorry for my bad grammar if I wrote something wrong.
Thanks anyway for responses and provided info.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1120 Posts |
Coins that are obvious fakes can be spotted easily by photos. Well crafted fakes - not so much. Point being, your coin is not an obvious fake (IMHO). A coin of this value should be examined in hand by a professional. Just an FYI - many times in Wildwinds if you click on "Text" it will tell you what is last sold for. In this case: last bid was $2,125.00 / Year 1999 However, it didn't sell? Edited by travelcoin
01/02/2019 12:48 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Probably worth a couple thousand pounds on the international market. This example is at auction right now, starting £1500:  Yours is finer than it though. A warning: export laws in the Balkans in general are strict. The highest prices will be found on the open market, but you might find it hard to do. A museum should be able to authenticate it and let you know about the laws that concern it. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
I agree with everything that Ben has said.
A jewelry store is not the right place to authenticate this coin.
The obvious place to take this coin to for authentication is the
National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, (in Serajevo).
To help with authentication, they will probably ask you to supply what previous history you can about it.
For a coin collector, provenance IS important.
If genuine, I would think that the Museum itself would be happy to add it to their collection, and pay you a reasonable amount of money for it.
If the museum is happy NOT to need the coin, and you have complied with all of the Laws of your Country, you are then in a position to apply to your Government for permission to sell it on the open international market.
As such, this coin may command a price of $10,000 or upwards.
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Moderator
United States
34398 Posts |
@MrR, first welcome to CCF. Second, with regard to your comment: Quote:
It has been brought to some jewelery stores, and they've said yes it's gold I see one potential method for better determining fake vs. real. Since the refining methods for gold have changed in the past 2000 years, you could at least see if this coin has an impurity profile that is consistent with its age. A local university or museum might have the appropriate, non-destructive equipment. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Some commercial scrap gold buyers have hand held XRF instruments, but the OP does not indicate if XRF was used or not.
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Valued Member
Canada
167 Posts |
I was once told by a museum expert that there is a method similar to carbon 14 that works for ancient gold. They measure the thorium residue in ancient gold and determine the age of it but this examination can be done in highly equipped labs and the cost is around 3000 dollars per coin. If a coin worth more than 20000 I would do this test for it to be sure it is authentic. Here is article that discusses this method: https://journals.openedition.org/ar...ciences/2017 |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
X- Ray Florescence (XRF) will give you results in a similar way that atomic mass spectrometry does.
Only that use of a cheap hand held XRF instrument needs only a few dollars in fees. (less than $10?). I have free access to an XRF instrument.
Any commercial scrap gold buyer worth his salt should have a hand held XRF instrument.
What XRF does, is to aim a non destructive X-ray beam at the surface of the coin, them analyse the X-ray scatter pattern, which is different for each element.
The result yields the percentages of each element that are found in the X-ray scatter pattern.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,556 |
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Posted 01/02/2019 10:08 am
