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 Replies: 15 / Views: 1,487 |
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New Member
Norway
6 Posts |
Hi everyone, I'm very green in the hobby as I only began my ancient coin collecting journey earlier this year, so I'll probably be the annoying guy asking all the dumb questions. Thanks in advance for your patience. Recently, I purchased a silver soter of Menander 1 online. (My area of interest is the Persian, Greek, and nomadic kingdoms of central Asia and northwest India.) I know that silver can weather the centuries in pretty amazing condition, but this one looks...well, new. I'm assuming it was probably thoroughly cleaned before it found its way into my little collection, but I'd appreciate the opinions of the forum as to its authenticity. I am aware that most fakes have been made to look "old", so I'm cautiously optimistic that mine is in fact genuine. Hopefully, the image I took is clear enough. Thanks for the help.  |
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
 The pros want front and back photos every time. Maybe weight and size as well. John1  |
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New Member
 Norway
6 Posts |
Ha! Of course...both sides and specs. Thanks for the pro tip. Menander I, drachm. 16.25mm, 2.44gm. Diademed and draped bust right / Athena Alkidemos advancing left, shield decorated with aegis over left arm, hurling thunderbolt, monogram to right.   |
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
Thank you for the added info. By the way, I am no pro especially in this section of the forum. Let's wait for the real pros to comment. John1 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
to the CCF! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Good looking drachm.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
The surfaces on the obverse show more "flow" than I would expect, sometimes indicative of pressure casting, but the purplish horn silver and traces of crystallization look legit. Sometimes a negative is a net positive.
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New Member
Norway
6 Posts |
Thanks, Kushanshah. Appreciate the input.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
to the community I agree a genuine example, |
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1563 Posts |
No idea on this one but :- |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
725 Posts |
I've seen that kind of roughness on the obverse on Roman silver coins, where it looks like someone scraped it when it was still molten. Is it just from metal flow? Or some sort of post-mint corrosion?
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Moderator
Australia
16826 Posts |
The "flowing metal" appearance on this coin is the combination of several factors. First, there is die wear - you can see exactly the same phenomenon on modern coinage. This is merely an extreme example.
Part of the appearance is also due to "silver crystallisation". As a piece of solid silver alloy gets older, the metal crystals within the alloy slowly grow larger. In extreme cases, this can impart a grainy appearance to a silver coin, which is quite distinct from the graininess caused by low-quality casting.
Finally, there is some corrosion. Pure silver doesn't readily corrode - and these coins are reasonably pure silver - but they can develop some "horn silver", or silver chloride, if buried under the right (wrong?!) conditions. You can still see some traces of the original surface, such as around the first letter "M" in the king's name. The process of cleaning the corrosion may have emphasized the pitting on the surface.
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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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Sap has made some good opinions about the features of this coin, that need age for these features to be seen.
Not a fake, IMO.
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New Member
Norway
6 Posts |
Wow! Thanks to everyone for their incredibly detailed explanations. Truly helpful and informative! I look forward to following the traffic on this forum and learning a lot!
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Moderator
United States
188213 Posts |
to the Community! |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,487 |
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Posted 10/30/2022 04:21 am
