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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,743 |
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New Member
Japan
5 Posts |
I bought this coin maybe 20 years ago in a fairly reputable coin shop in London and then promptly forgot about it. I've since "rediscovered" it again at the back of a drawer and become curious. After a couple of hours on the internet I've been unable to work out what it is other than that it's probably Greek but beyond that I'm stumped. Anybody out there able to help?   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
Welcome to CC Ancient's Forum. I do not know anything about Greek coins as I only collect Roman Imperial and Republic coins (mostly Imperial). However, there are plenty of people on this forum that know Greek coinage and someone will stop by soon enough to help with your coin. I have to say, though, that your coin does not look genuine to me from the images you posted. Perhaps if you could crop the images and post larger pictures we will be able to see and tell more about it. And, hopefully, someone with knowledge about this coin will come along soon enough to give a much more definitive response. Once again,  Regards, JW |
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New Member
 Japan
5 Posts |
I tried playing around with the website image tool to get some cropped pictures, Update in the first post, are these a bit better? I'd be surprised if it's a fake I got it from Spinks but you never know. To be honest it wouldn't be a huge loss if it was. I don't have a scale handy at the minute but from the weight in my hand it's certainly made of silver.
Edited by Kalinda
11/05/2011 09:39 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
It's still hard to tell much, but don't get too upset about the coin's genuineness. I may be totally wet behind the ear on this one. One of the Greek experts will be along to give you a more definitive response.
JW
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New Member
Japan
5 Posts |
www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/thumbnails.php?album=10&page=21
Building on the information presented on another forum I've tracked down this website. Check about 3/4 down the page on the left and there's one that looks exactly like mine. From this I'm leaning towards it not being real. Oh well, it's definitely made of silver, I did a density test on it, so at least it has melt value....
Edited by Kalinda
11/05/2011 10:42 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
You say it definitely is made of silver. How did you test the metal? And before you take and melt it down, let's be sure the coin is a fake. I have found a couple of coins on Forum's fake coin reports that are questionable. Generally, they are correct, but its like wikipedia in that anyone can add to the reports w/o verification. Again, the reports are generally correct and some of the people at Forum are experts. But better to be sure then sorry, eh?
I'm surprised none of the Greek collectors have responded to your original post. Perhaps because its a weekend. Hang in there.
Regards,
JW
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New Member
Japan
5 Posts |
Density = mass/volume.
Get the weight then do a displacement test to get the volume. Silver has a density of 10.5 Grams per cm cubed. The coin came out at 10.24 which I would put within the margin of error for impurities and errors from the difficulty of the volume displacement.
It also slides slowly down a neodymium magnet and hence displays paramagnetic properties, consistent with silver.
Kitchen science but the theory is sound!
Edited by Kalinda
11/05/2011 11:21 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
Quote:
Kitchen science but the theory is sound! I must have been sleeping during that class. Very impressive to me anyway. So at least it's silver then. That in and of itself is a good sign. I read somewhere that if the coin is a precious metal, the chance of it being a fake is markedly down. So, once again, I will urge you to wait until one of the experts comes along. JW |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1315 Posts |
I'm not an expert at all but I was searching for your coin earlier today I did not find your coin but I did find this same Forvm fake page.
Your coin is similar to these, but the griffin type creature is standing on a wheat shaft on these fake coins , yours is standing on something else.
I also think it warrants more investigation before one can say for sure.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1549 Posts |
I believe the style here would fool me but for the fact that the coin should be gold. The problem is how we can become 'expert' in 'Greek' since the range of what is to be expected is huge compared to Roman. I'll never handle enough Black Sea coins to feel really secure in them so I don't buy high priced things and certainly not gold.
Part of the reason for not commenting on a coin is that some commented in the other thread on 'another forum' so the same opinion here is not necessary. I also sometimes have trouble deciding which group is a better fit for which coin or which question so I post the same question on more than one of the five groups in which I participate. There is no one venue perfect in all respects so online time gets split up.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
For those still wondering what the type is:
Thrace, Pantikapaion. 310 -304 BC, satyr obv., griffin rev.
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Valued Member
Serbia (Srbija)
146 Posts |
Dont do anything yet or you could regret... this may looks like fantasy coin but all greek coins looks like that. Better pictures and we will id this coin.
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,743 |
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Posted 11/05/2011 09:33 am
