Need Help

Not really certain, but I think it is SNG Cop 7: Attica, Athens. Circa 545-520 BC. AR Obol "Wappenmünzen". Four-spoked wheel / incuse square, divided diagonally. Dewing1567.

The size is not correct for an Obol however.

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...thens/t.html

I have seen a couple of these on various boards recently. I believe them to be modern fakes. Here is one that was added to some fake reports.



Martin

Odd that a shepherd would be faking ancient coins - but its also in oddly good condition, considering it must have been exposed for quite a while.

Id call it real - its a nice design too, a wheel. And at 8g, quite chunky

Looking at them - these appear to be the same dies too. Well - thank goodness you didnt spend 10k on it!

Do you know what metal its made of? Perhaps you could still scrounge some silver from it

These fantastic stories are almost always too good to be true these days.

Perhaps 50 years ago before the internet people could find rare coins and have no idea what they are or what they are worth and have practically no way to find out in certain parts of the world. Its possible these coins could be sold for pennies to collectors.

As of 2012, 2.3 Billion people have access to the internet directly and many more have access indirectly. Its not difficult now to get a valuation and attribution for something you find even if you live miles away from coin shops and museums.

Deals that look too good to be true usually are. I agree that these two coins match and are both fakes. Nobody sells $10K coins for $7, nobody, period. I've been to Bulgaria and loved both the place and the people but they have serious issues with fake ancient coins, when I was there in 2000 everybody was selling them, market stall after market stall, the tourists were happily handing over cash for some terrible and some wonderful copies.

We have had a lot of fakes recently but on the whole I think this is a good thing, it makes people cautious, at least t0rress only spent $7. Dont just blindly trust sellers because they claim to be responsible, I've found many fakes on Vcoins from long standing sellers, if I can find them so also should they be able to.

The fake database on FAC is excellent and I suggest anyone who is unsure about fakes should go there and spend a couple of hours seeing just how good some of the fakes are.

Online and in person I have seen several of these in the last six months. They tend to come with the story tracing them to being found by someone who could not possibly be counterfeiting them (here a shepherd).

Here is how we might do this: Make coins. Hide them where shepherds will find them. Buy a few from shepherds for less than melt but be sure the press carries the story of the find. Up the count in stock so the shepherds don't have to find them all. Resell to coin wholesalers as provenanced antiquities. Laugh all the way to the bank. Of course there is the easier way: Lie.

The fact that a coin was in grandpa's collection in 1900 means nothing when you consider that some modern fakes are old enough that they qualify as antiquities protected by heritage protection laws in some places. These may have been buried 50 years ago as a nice thing to do for the grand-kids (sort of like planting an olive tree).

i sell the coin already