Unkown Coin: Replica Owl Tetradrachm

A tourist souvenir piece.

I like to have a coin in my hand and examine it closely before offering an opinion. Nevertheless, my first inclination from the screen is that is an (ancient) contemporary forgery.

That opinion is based on stylistic grounds.

I have seen many tetradrachms of Athens, and I have one myself. The style does not correspond with any of the productions of Athens itself that I know of, but coins were made for trade vaguely similar to this in the Arabian Peninsular.

I was unaware of that thread. Thanks sap for the info.

I don't know. I assume it was some kind of "Reader's Digest" giveaway, or perhaps a promotional freebie in a cereal box. It could even be a tourist copy, though those tend to be better imitations than this.

It is 100% absolutely definitely fake. We've seen several of them exactly like it. As that four-year-old version of myself said, I mean exactly, with a precision you don't find on hand-struck coinages like these are supposed to be. It's a mass-produced machine-struck replica.

These replicas also often seem to come in exactly the same style of little round clear plastic cases - it's probably the housing they were originally sold in.