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 Replies: 10 / Views: 862 |
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Valued Member
France
290 Posts |
Hello folks, I have this Knossos bronze coin, and I cannot find it in the standard references. Weight : 7,35 g Size : 27 mm Is it authentic?  |
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Valued Member
 France
290 Posts |
Here is the other side  |
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Moderator
 Australia
16205 Posts |
Unfortunately, this design is only ever used on genuine silver coins, nor copper coins. The upturned rim also looks decidedly non-ancient. This is therefore presumably a tourist copy.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
France
290 Posts |
You are perhaps right. I would be interested in more opinions.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1778 Posts |
In my opinion it's a tourist replica that was lost in the ground, corroded then later found. I've never seen one in copper/bronze with this design. You could contact a curator at a museum that has an ancient coins department, send them photos, ask them. I know the British Museum has a keeper of ancient coins. I assume the Paris museum also has an ancient coins expert.
I searched several ancient coins databases, acsearch.info, Wildwinds, CoinArchives, ANS database, CNG coins, did not see one like this.
Edited by livingwater
03/11/2025 9:44 pm
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Valued Member
France
290 Posts |
Thanks, Livingwater, for your comments. On the other hand, if it was a replica for tourists, as there are many for coins from Knossos, it would have produced in mass as the other fakes, and it would be documented. You don't produce coins for tourists on a small scale.
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Valued Member
France
290 Posts |
In addition, I don't believe too much about the possibility that such a recent coin could have been lost in the ground and deteriorated to this point in a few years...
I friend of mine put me in contact with one of the best experts in Cretan coinage, and I will consult him. I keep you updated.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1778 Posts |
Yes please let us know what the expert says. People have been making modern tourist replicas/fakes for many years. I have a replica set of Roman and Jewish coins my grandfather had since the 1950s. In moist soil a copper/bronze coin can degrade in a few years. However, when forgers make fakes they can make them appear ancient with false patina and wear. Below is a pic from a tourist shop in Ephesus in 2013 not far from the temple of Artemis. The photo is not good resolution but they are fake ancient coins reported by numismatist Ursula Kampmann in a CoinsWeekly article. In some countries it's legal to sell replicas/fakes but not genuine ancient coins. If your coin is genuine it is rare and should be reported, published. I'll be happy for you. It would be better to have two experts in the field agree it's genuine.  Edited by livingwater
03/12/2025 12:52 pm
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Valued Member
France
290 Posts |
I agree, it could very well be a fake that has been intentionally corroded and deteriorated. However, there is perhaps a small hope that it is genuine, also because there are less bronze fakes (they are cheap in comparaison to silver). Let's see what response I can get. I will show it also to CGB in Paris.
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Valued Member
France
290 Posts |
Very exciting news about this coin! It is a fake, because the weight is wrong for bronze coins, but it is very probably an ancient fake, or possibly a first attempt (in bronze) for a coinage that will be produced in silver. It exactly matches the die of a silver coin (see image), which is classified in Svoronos, Numismartique de la Crète ancienne (1890) as number 25, planche XXXI.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1778 Posts |
Yes, as Sap said it is the same design as a genuine silver version which is rare. I'm glad you found a reference number for the silver. The reference book you cite does list a few large bronze coins, 24mm, 27mm but none with your design.
In my opinion you should contact museums I mentioned, British Museum, Paris, Berlin, ANS in New York, email them pics and measurements. You could also contact CNG Coins, Harlan J Berk and other well known ancient coin dealers, ask if they will give you an opinion.
I've sent a few ancient coins to David R Sear authentification service. If he is still doing it you could send him the coin for verification.
Until you get the coin looked at by ancient coins numismatists we are just speculating. Sometimes coin experts don't agree which makes identification more complicated.
Edited by livingwater
03/19/2025 5:29 pm
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Replies: 10 / Views: 862 |
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Posted 03/10/2025 10:26 am
