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Decadrachm Of Syracuse

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Spain
1 Posts
 Posted 10/31/2016  08:31 am Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add rsancqui to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
Ey Everybody! I would like to know if this decadrachm of syracuse its a fake.

3.3 cm... 25 gr.


Decadrachm-Of-Syracuse

Decadrachm-Of-Syracuse

Decadrachm-Of-Syracuse
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DavidUK's Avatar
United Kingdom
2624 Posts
 Posted 10/31/2016  09:00 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add DavidUK to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Looks like it to me, I think I can see indications of lost wax casting.

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Finn235's Avatar
United States
6130 Posts
 Posted 10/31/2016  11:25 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Finn235 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
A dekadrachm starts in the high thousands and goes up from there. Unless you dug it up yourself, such a coin must be assumed fake unless it has a documented provenance.

Your coin has the typical appearance of a well-made cast fake... it is shiny, but lacking many fine details. For example, the horses have no eyes. It also has a very smooth, rounded edge, as if a casting seam was filed and polished away.

We see a lot of such coins posted, and I don't think anyone has ever turned up an "oh wow, that one is actually genuine!" coin.
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Spence's Avatar
United States
34430 Posts
 Posted 10/31/2016  12:31 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Spence to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
First, welcome to CCF.

Second, I agree most likely a fake--the porosity on the face and even on the rim is the biggest indicator for me.
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb

"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
Edited by Spence
10/31/2016 12:31 pm
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echizento's Avatar
United States
23731 Posts
 Posted 10/31/2016  3:25 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add echizento to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
to the community

Sorry to say but there is no doubt that it's a fake. The porous surface, and lack of details and the weight which should be around 43 grams is a sure indication of it not being real.
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FlaviusJ's Avatar
United Kingdom
90 Posts
 Posted 10/31/2016  5:05 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add FlaviusJ to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
If someone complied a top ten of faked coins I imagine this one would be near the top.
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echizento's Avatar
United States
23731 Posts
 Posted 10/31/2016  5:08 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add echizento to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
It think it runs right up there with the Athenian Owl.
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DavidUK's Avatar
United Kingdom
2624 Posts
 Posted 11/01/2016  07:12 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add DavidUK to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
@Finn - with lost wax casting you don't have an obvious casting seam since the mould has no join in it (a solid block of plaster of paris is used which is produced using the waxes and shattered after casting. The edges only tend to be filed to remove the sprue/sprues so sometimes there is a flat spot though since ancients are often irregular in shape this doesn't help us.

The wax models are produced from rubber moulds which are cut away from the real coin with a scalpel... this leaves fine hairline indentations as could be seen at the edge 10.30 on the first photo, the lines typically run around the edge but could also run across the face usually close to the edge.

I only know this from first hand experience cleaning up medals and jewellery cast in such a fashion though now with 3d printing the waxes can be printed rather than made from rubber moulding and therefore casts can be made with no such traces or seams...so your other indicators (pourosity/lack of fine detail) are far more important than relying on seam evidence.
Edited by DavidUK
11/01/2016 07:18 am
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