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 Replies: 10 / Views: 4,567 |
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
So I found this guy who deals coins but I wasnt sure if they were real or fake..He was selling replicas as well (he stated so himself and showed me) and told me if any of the real coins are fake, I should bring them back and smack them across his face *his words  I didn't want to take pics of all of them because I felt that it might be rude but anyways. here they are! I would appreciate your advice guys! This one seems fake to me..Gordian III..He was selling it for 50 dollars! My amateur instinct tells me its fake because its very thick and quite smooth.   Here are the romans and byzantines...Most of them have a dark patina with red sand patina..they seem genuine to me but he wants to sell the romans (Constans, Constantine, basically Late Romans) for 20-30 dollars each..I thought it might be a bit overpriced but the details there are great! I saw a really nice detailed Constantine portray and the the reverse has a wreath with some words within! I wish I took a better picture of it! You can see it on the bottom right though!  And now this one seems to be an Alexander the Great Bronze Coin! It was part of his junky bunch because most of them are uncleaned, riddled with bronze disease or heavy encrustations. this coin jumped out to me the most! any opinions?   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
They all appear to be quite genuine to me. The Gordian III is indeed a Tetradrachm from Antioch. Fifty dollars is not a bad price for a decent example. The Byzantines all look good and from what little I can see the late Romans (Constantines) seem to be on the level although so little is visible that it is impossible to judge whether 20 dollars is justified. Many late Romans sell for 5-10 unless they have excellent eye appeal !
As for 'Alex' again the pic does not help much but the coin seems to be real. I have not bought a bronze of Alexander III for over 20 years and was accustomed to paying around 15-20 for VF condition. Prices have gone up of course but I am uncertain that the coin is Alexander and not Lysymachus. The typical reverse of Alex in the small AE's is a bow and quiver with name between. What I see is a seated figure (Zeus).
Might be fake but better pics are needed
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Valued Member
 United States
138 Posts |
Thank you for the info !
If the Alexander coin was real, How much do you think it would be worth in its condition?
Regarding the Gordian III coin, its bronze, but all the examples given are silver if I'm not mistaken
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
The Gordian III is a tetradrachm and from what I can see from the pictures looks OK,though I can tell if any of the Byzantine coins are real, need better pictures. The Alexander might be OK but it needs to be cleaned and the we would need the size and weight. The coin is supposed to be silver also.
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
I see..
So the Gordian III tetradrachm can be a bronze coin too?
Regarding the Alexander coin, its definitely bronze with a black/dark green patina.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
The Gordian III tetradrachm might be silver under all the dirt. I've seen several examples from this period that looked bronze, but when cleaned showed themselves to be silver.
Paul Bulgerin
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Valued Member
United States
138 Posts |
Maybe this explains why the coin has a very smooth patina... What made me suspicious is the green patina and it's overall look... I'm actually hesitating on whether to buy it or not! If it's silver and it's just fifty dollars it might be a great deal
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Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
If a dealer has bulk coins that are not attributed I think offering half (or less,if the coin is inexpensive) the attributed price would be fair to him. He would have a lot of work to do to promote a coin from "unidentified and loose in a box" to "attributed and photographed and on the web with a fair price" and if even he puts it on ebay there will be fees to pay and shipping to bother with. Selling to a person on the spot is far more convenient and worth real money to a dealer. |
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Moderator
Australia
16871 Posts |
Your "Alexander the Great" coin is actually a coin of king Lysimachos of Thrace, and is supposed to be silver. So is the Gordian III tetradrachm. These coins, to me, clearly are not silver. The people who dig these things up are generally pretty good at telling bronze and silver apart.
ALl of which puts me in doubt about the authenticity of the rest of his coins.
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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Pillar of the Community
United States
4981 Posts |
hmmmm...i don't know. isn't the style of bust on that gordian iii kind of weird? the state of preservation of that maurice tiberius coin (lower right in the left hand group of 4) is suspicious as well. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fa...um=8&pos=160 |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 4,567 |
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Posted 06/25/2014 4:01 pm
