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 Replies: 22 / Views: 4,999 |
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Pillar of the Community
 3352 Posts |
I have David Sear on speed-dial!!  Edited by stevex6
05/10/2012 9:02 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
I missed how you just spent $85 -- you did well (again)!  |
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Valued Member
United States
422 Posts |
I wish I knew more about these coins, but I'm having a hard enough time learning about Roman's and Biblical's Steve! I love the artistry of ancient Greeks, but don't have the cash and would be fearful that I would buy a fake (wait a minute .... I buy fourrees ... um  ) Ok I think there is a difference  . Nice pickup for the money though. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Just for educational purposes, here are some examples of the "Black Sea Hoard" coins that were examined by the IAPN and published in the BOC.    Martin (Images used with permission of IAPN.) Edited by maridvnvm
05/11/2012 06:47 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
While I continue to tread lightly on all coins from this region, I do not recall seeing and condemned coin of Mesembria that had the letters (NI) below the helmet. There are good coins without them but I have not yet seen a known fake that had them. The Apollonia coin is quite damaged and all the original fakes were high grade. I would say that the crack looks real but I also know that there are folks out there 'aging' (aka scraping on bricks, hitting with hammers etc.) pretty fakes to make them look real.
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Well, I'm still feeling pretty good about the coins, especially for $85 (even if one of the two are real and the other is a "good fake", then I'm still feeling okay ... if both are fake, I'm not feeling too okay about my purchases!!) ... it's a tough call, for sending them for a second opinion costs almost as much as the coins themselves!! SUMMARY => I think that they are gorgeous and interesting and I don't plan on selling them either way => so they're "perfect"!! Edited by stevex6
05/11/2012 10:05 am
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
NOTE => regardless of their authenticity, "thanks for the heads-up"!!
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
I am not questioning their authenticity and have not studied the types enough to know either way. I added the Black Sea examples for illustrative purposes so that people can appreciate why these types have been poisoned for many people. I have thought about obtaining examples of both types several times but have never taken the plunge due to small nagging doubts.
Regards,
Martin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
I agree with Martin. It is not so much that I doubt these coins but that I hate to see people liking this thread running out and buying fakes. Not all that long ago I recall a thread on these coins either here or another list I read where I showed my holdings in Mesembria which I know to include one fake (I bought it as a fake for $5). There are a lot of these coins out there (real and fake) including many that could fool the unwary.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
Too bad these coins are plagued with a bunch of fakes. I'm not experienced enough to deal with Greek coins right now, and especially these silver coins.
I think the OP coins are nice.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Quote:
The Apollonia coin is quite damaged and all the original fakes were high grade. I would say that the crack looks real but I also know that there are folks out there 'aging' (aka scraping on bricks, hitting with hammers etc.) pretty fakes to make them look real. Something I notice about this coin is the granular surface on the face. If this is due to silver crystallization, that would corroborate the age. While the coin is described as a drachm, it's a bit light--drachms from Apollonia during this time are double that weight. Perhaps this is another diobol? |
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Well, I ended-up sending David Sear a couple of photos of my two new coins and asked him if he thought they were fake, or if he thought that they were authentic, but he kinda gave me the "gee Steve, I can't tell for sure through a photo, so you'd better send them to me for a closer analysis" ... which is definitely what I'm gonna end-up doing, otherwise the mystery will drive me crazy (right, DVC!!?) ... Quote:
Ancient Coin Fact #1 => and that's why he is David Sear and I'm merely a random putz wondering about my pretty little coins |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Steve, you're going to get some really solid documentation from Sears on your coins. Of course, you might save yourself some expense by buying coins from the "short list" of good dealers.  Sometime soon, I'll publish my list of recommended sellers. |
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
Well DVC, I'm fairly sure that coin dude/dealer seems legit? ... I mean gee-whiz, jwharper was even bidding on the same coins!! Anyway => the dealer has a reasonable refund policy and a stable full of other really beautiful coins ... so again, I'm hoping that he is a good dealer and that my coins prove to be total winners!! Oh, but as always => thanks for being the Devil's advocate and trying to save me from being ripped-off!! (I really do appreciate your efforts) |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10045 Posts |
Steve, I wasn't suggesting you were buying from a bad source. It's great to have documentation; it all depends how much you want to spend for it. I can spend several hours researching a $100 coin and come away pretty confident with its authenticity. It can be exhaustive, detailed work at times, but it's pretty satisfying too. Happy I could help you out too. |
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Replies: 22 / Views: 4,999 |
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Posted 05/10/2012 10:16 pm
