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 Replies: 8 / Views: 4,708 |
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New Member
Australia
4 Posts |
Hey guys, this was given to me by a friend in Lebanon.     He found it in a dig in a cave, he has hundreds of Phonician, Ottoman, Roman and Greek trinkets and coins. I have no idea what this coin is though. The letters look Greek, that's all... Appreciate your help. Elias |
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Moderator
 Australia
16842 Posts |
It resembles a coin of Armenian king Tigranes II. But unfortunately, it appears to be a match for a commonly encountered fake of such a coin. There are two of them on the FORVM fake database: example #1 and example #2. 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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New Member
 Australia
4 Posts |
Ok so it's commonly faked. I have no doubts this was genuinely found by the man that gave it to me.
He found it digging in a cave in Southern Lebanon.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
My first thought as well:
'Made or found in Lebanon?' Lots of fakes of ancients as well as modern coins come from here.
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New Member
Australia
4 Posts |
Well, how can I find out?
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Without comparing it to others on WILDWINDS, the first thing that made me suspicious was the surface texture of the fields (flat areas around the design), and the indents on both sides of the coin. They look like blow out bubbles left behind from a casting.
From the circumstances of how you obtained the coin, it seems that it was not verified by the guy who said he dug it up. I guess that you had no way of checking his story at the time.
If I had been in the same circumstances as you, without good references as Sap has produced, I would have had no way of checking to verify it, either.
In such a circumstance, I would have automatically assumed it to be a fake without saying so, but I would would have tried to buy it a fake price, and verified it for myself later on, when I would have had the time to check it against good references.
If you don't know how to find out about it, you have already taken the first step. You have shown it here on the CCF. That is commendable.
Even if we had said it was a good coin, I would have taken it to a specialist coin dealer as well, to verify what we have already said, for your own peace of mind.
'Belts and braces' verification from an independent professional opinion is always good to have.
I buy fake ancient coins, but ONLY when they are sold to me at fake prices. The acquisition of a fake coin collection is part of my education of learning how to spot them.
Edited by sel_69l
07/13/2012 9:17 pm
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Moderator
Australia
16842 Posts |
Sorry, but your coin doesn't merely look similar to the two fakes I linked to earlier. It looks identical, in all the important aspects. You expect modern machine-struck coins to all look identical, but genuine ancient coins never look this much alike, since each one was handmade, with differences in centring and planchet cracks and flaws.
The only difference between your coin and theirs are some additional flaws which your coin seems to have acquired. When a die-struck fake coin such as the type on FORVM is itself copied, and cast copies are produced from that mould. Casting, as sel-69l has stated, tends to add the kinds of flaws we see on this coin: small raised dots in the background field left behind by air pockets trapped when the mould was made, and large voids and holes caused by air bubbles when the metal was poured into the mould.
I do not know if your friend has fooled you, or if your friend was in turn fooled by whoever it was that told him to dig in that cave; it certainly wouldn't be the first time that some crafty locals have taken somebody off to some ruin "that nobody else knows about" which they'd seeded earlier with a bunch of fake "artefacts" for their mark to find. But I cannot see any possibility that your coin is a genuine ancient coin. It's definitely a fake.
But please, you don't have to just take the word of some anonymous folks on an Internet forum. Take it in to a coin dealer; all the capital cities here in Australia have at least one dealer in them with enough skill to identify this for you. Or, if you don't trust the dealers, take it to a coin club meeting and ask the ancients experts there. All we're trying to do is prepare you for the bad news that we're certain they will tell you.
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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New Member
Australia
4 Posts |
Thanks for the responses.
Please don't apologize! I really do not care, as I'm no collector or anything. I just thought it would've been awesome to carry around some ancient piece of history!
Oh well, can't wait to call my buddy and tell him he's a fool too.
Lol thanks guys,
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Phoenician: Actually, I think you should become a collector of ancient coins, even if that means only owning one or two of them.
My first ancient coin was bought of a professional specialist of ancient coins in London a very long time ago. I had no experience in ancient coins at the time, but I have always thanked myself for getting my first ancient coin from a dealer, who is a World famous specialist in the field of ancient coins.
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Replies: 8 / Views: 4,708 |
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Posted 07/13/2012 10:18 am
