Ancient Coin/Medallion - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 9 / Views: 2,556
X11 New Member Portugal 5 Posts	Posted 02/27/2006 1:44 pm Hello, My name is Hugo. I have this coin/medallion that I cannot identify. I also have some other ancient coins, but I was not able to load them yet. Can anybody help me out? Image: coin 1.jpg 51.83 KB Image: coin 2.jpg 43.7 KB Report this Post to the Staff

Susanlynn9 Forum Mom United States 5877 Posts	Posted 02/27/2006 3:50 pm Hello Hugo and welcome to our CC family. We do have some collectors of ancients and one of them should be along to help you soon. I recently joined a Coin Forgery Discussion List that specializes in ancients and I have posted there with the pics to see what I can find out for you. I personally know very little about ancients, but I am learning all the time. Report this Post to the Staff
RenaL Pillar Of The Community Turkey 1205 Posts	Posted 02/27/2006 4:05 pm The first vord is most probably a name, I can read "Vasileos" maybe helps Report this Post to the Staff
KLD Pillar of the Community Australia 1079 Posts	Posted 02/27/2006 5:55 pm Hello and welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy your stay here. To me it looks like a replica greek coin? I could be wrong as I am not an expert. Report this Post to the Staff
grendelfreak Valued Member Australia 281 Posts	Posted 02/27/2006 6:05 pm I think, if is not a fake, that this is a greek copy in Roman styles, for example see here. http://esty.ancients.info/numis/intro2.html EDIT: found this also, its in the same style as your coin yet I can't find an exact match, but it is probably a Seleucid coin http://www.biblepicturegallery.com/.../Syrianr.htm Edited by grendelfreak 02/27/2006 6:15 pm Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16849 Posts	Posted 02/28/2006 04:33 am I think KLD's instincts are correct. The coin purports to be a tetradrachm in the name of Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Greek titles on the reverese are BASILEUS (king) ANTIOCHOU (the king's name) THEOU (God) EPIPHANOU (Manifestation) NIKEPHO (short for nicephorou, bringer of victory) Antiochus IV (175-164 BC) was one of the most infamous of the Seleucid kings, largely because of his attempts to "ethnically cleanse" Palestine of Judaism, and the Maccabean revolt that occurred in response. Jews today still remember this event at hanukah. As such, his coins are quite desirable and frequently copied. Your coin (the type is listed in the Seaby catalogue as #6978) catalogues at £375 but, if it were genuine, it would be worth a lot more than that, because of the lack of wear, damage or flaws. Indeed, I'm afraid to say it's too perfect - ancient coins just don't occur with such sharp rims and clear detail. The specimens used to illustrate the Seaby catalogue and the Wikipedia entry aren't this good. If you want to double-check, take it to a coin dealer specialising in ancients and ask. 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 Report this Post to the Staff
Susanlynn9 Forum Mom United States 5877 Posts	Posted 02/28/2006 1:03 pm Here is what I have found out from the members of the CDFL and the sites that they referred me to. (Anyone interested in ancients really should join this group as it is full of very knowledgeable and helpful members.) The Tetradrachms of Antiochos IV (which is what this coin is) have been avidly collected since medieval times and have been faked since early times. Apparently, this ruler tried to put a statue of Zeus in the Jewish temple at Jerusalem as he said that Zeus was his father, causing the Maccabean Revolt in 165 BC. These are the reasons I've been given why this coin is most likely a counterfeit by a collector of these coins. The flan is too smooth and the style of the portrait is much too shallow for a middle period Hellenistic portrait coin. Not only is the portrait too shallow, but the style is wrong. Your coin lacks the fine aquiline nose and the expressive eyes one would expect of a Seleucid coin of this period. The face is expressionless. The reverse, too, has its problems, mostly in the scratchy wobbly legends, and it also is too shallow. Here are some links to pictures of genuine Antiochos IV Tetradrachms: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...kholm_12.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...kholm_14.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...kholm_16.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...olm_16.3.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...olm_16.2.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...olm_16.1.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...kholm_17.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...rkholm_6.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...GIs_0977.jpg http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/gree...drachm.1.jpg http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img...umb00269.jpg I actually learned a lot from this post. Thank you for posting the coin. Report this Post to the Staff
X11 New Member Portugal 5 Posts	Posted 02/28/2006 2:28 pm hello again, Thank very much for this first insight. Special thanks to Susan for the trouble and hospitality. I will try to get some more info on this coin, and hopefully, load a couple more coins I have in stock. Report this Post to the Staff
Susanlynn9 Forum Mom United States 5877 Posts	Posted 02/28/2006 4:14 pm It was absolutely no trouble at all. I learned a lot! That's what I love about this hobby and this forum. I got some additional info on this coin. Apparently, your coin is a forgery of a coin from the Ake-Ptolemais mint. This is a well-documented forgery from the Beirut area. Here is an image of the coin that the forgery was made from: http://imagedb.coinarchives.com/img...d/600900.jpg Again, I can't emphasize enough how great the CFDL group is. Report this Post to the Staff
scoutjim99 Pillar of the Community United States 4589 Posts	Posted 04/04/2006 03:40 am It looks to good to be real Report this Post to the Staff
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