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Please Help ID Ancient Greek Woman (I Think) And Year

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New Member

Canada
9 Posts
 Posted 11/02/2022  6:30 pm Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add Kalaharirun to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
Hello everyone,

I recently bid on a few old Chinese and Japanese coins in an estate sale.

This coin was included in the lot.

I am very new to Greek and Roman coins. I believe it is Greek. It looks like a womans figure.

Can you please help me identify her and the year.

It has a nice heavy weight to it. I believe it is silver but have been able to check it out year due to temporary limited mobility after a few surgeries.

I don't think it is counterfeit, however I do appreciate your expertise..

Thank you.

Jack

Please-Help-ID-Ancient-Greek-Woman-I-Think-And-Year
Please-Help-ID-Ancient-Greek-Woman-I-Think-And-Year
New Member
Norway
6 Posts
 Posted 11/03/2022  12:35 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Menander to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
If you could, please post the size and weight of the coin; it will help the pros identify it.

I am still pretty new to the hobby, but I have a little experience with Greek coins. I've never before seen one quite like this, and I admit that my knee-jerk reaction is to be suspicious.

But we should let the professionals weigh in.

In any case, welcome to the forum!
New Member
Norway
6 Posts
 Posted 11/03/2022  02:55 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Menander to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
After an image and article search, it seems your coin is Macedonian, from the period of Roman rule (from 168 BCE).

I could not find any examples that match your specimen, either in the style of the bust (Artemis? Athena?) on the obverse, or the legend on the reverse. Overall, there seem to be a number of anomalous elements to your coin that leave my untrained eye uneasy.

But please, take that with a huge grain of salt as this is definitely an amateur assessment. Once you post the size and weight, the expert takes should start coming in.
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Sap's Avatar
Australia
16809 Posts
 Posted 11/03/2022  04:13 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Sap to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
The coin is, or at least purports to be, a "stephanophorus tetradrachm" from the city of Heraclea-at-Latmus, in the region of Caria/Ionia, circa 180 BC. Example on NumisCorner.

My doubts to its authenticity mainly extend to its edge; the "stephanophorus" tetradrachms were known for being large and thin; this coin looks thicker than it should, and has an odd rounded edge.
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
Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts
 Posted 11/03/2022  04:17 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Kushanshah to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
It purports to be a coin of Herakleia ad Latmon in Ionia but I'm always skeptical when coins of potentially great value turn up unidentified in odd lots at estate sales. It should be examined in hand by an expert.

https://cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?IS...10000&PAGE=1
Edited by Kushanshah
11/03/2022 04:23 am
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Spence's Avatar
United States
34397 Posts
 Posted 11/03/2022  07:01 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Spence to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I agree that the odd rim could have been ground down to hide a parting line or other evidence of casting. There is also a weird anomaly directly in front of the bust.
"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
New Member
Canada
9 Posts
 Posted 11/04/2022  2:53 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Kalaharirun to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Hello again,

Thank you all for your input.

I finally managed to bum slide down the steps (I have a broken leg and major surgery on my shoulder) to the basement and get to my scale, magnet and a ruler. Can't find my Calipers.

Thanks to your input and link, it appears to be fake.

It is approx 31/32 mm in diameter, however it is between 4-5 mm thick.

It is not magnetic, but it weighs 37.32 grams. Approx double the weight of a Tetradrachm.

We have a great expert here in the city and once I am mobile again, I will take it to him to confirm that it is a fake. If, however, it is silver, as it sounds, at least I didn't lose out on it.

I actually bought the lot for the Chinese coins and a Japanese coin.

I am going through them now as there are many fake ones of these out there.

Once again, thank you everyone.
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