Signed Tetradrachm Of Katan 410 BC

This coin has been in the family for 75 years! Provenance is Italian ancestor from Calabria who traded his watch for it from his friend who dug it up. For decades no one in the family knew what this coin was but we knew it was strikingly beautiful so, as a hobby, I started researching it in ernest and have learned quite a lot including that, if authentic, it may be a very important and valuable coin. I have found much that seems to be correct for it as tetradrachm of Katane Sicily circa 410-405 BC. The river god Amenanos is on the reverse and a fast quadriga with a winged Nike on the obverse.

The reverse matches coins of this type from the reference Coins of Magna Grecia but I could not match the obverse die until I looked at coins of this type in the catalogue of the British Museum. They have a specimen that exactly matches the reverse and the obverse! This obverse is a signed die by Herakleidas.

Now, lets consider the facts...Weight and size correct are correct at 25mm and almost 16.8 g. check Specific gravity is also correct. check. The coin is thicker on one side than the other...if this coin is not authentic, someone went to a LOT of trouble 75 years ago to produce a fake out of real silver presumably copying/casting a fake from a very rare, valuable and presumably unobtainable example in the British Museum AND, rather than selling it at a high price in a big city, traded it to an Italian peasant for a cheap watch? Doesn't seem worth the trouble. Note also, that a have looked and looked and never found an example of a fake of this coin. If it is a fake, I would presume that other copies of such a valuable coin would have turned up.

I haven't submitted this coin to any experts yet as given its potentially high value if authentic, it would cost quite a bit...But I would like your opinion. I have looked a many examples of real coins of this period and I find many similarities with the real thing. I have incl some photos. If you want more let me know and I will post. I have taken some high def, high magnification photos of many details. Let me know what you think.

Thanks











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