Lydia - Av Daric

sel_691 - Thank you. It's been a long, hard road trying to get good photos of gold. The piece was purchased by my father some years (40+) ago. Unfortunately, dementia has usurped most of his memory and he didn't keep records. He got many from auctions (both East Coast and European) and various dealers in and around Santa Barbara over the decades of his active collecting. However, like the Celtic stater, I'll take it down to Freeman and Sear to get an evaluation. I plan on keeping them busy for a while and perhaps some of the collection will show up in their auctions.

I was somewhat surprised to read that it isn't uncommon to find ancient pieces in good condition. Many people got them and buried or hid them - it was how they created and kept their wealth. Then they died and the hoard was lost until .... whenever. Understandable, since there weren't banks, so to speak. And, thank you for your input!

sel_691 - That is interesting about Pella and having visited there. That is something that I wish I could become enamoured by - to visit the places, immerse myself in the history and, perhaps mentally, catch a glimpse of the time. Alas, I'm old enough to not be able or want to start such a long journey. I've been on a 'path' through the Orient for sometime and would rather not take the detour.

I've not met Mr Sear yet, but have spent time talking with Mr. Freeman. I'll give a call there today and perhaps he is back. My father paid a fair amount for this piece, though I know that is no indication it is authentic, but knowing him, I have much more than a 50-50 expectation for a good report on it.

Thank you, again, for your thoughts and comments.

sel_691 - I shall, however, probably tomorrow. I just got back from spending 4 hours with Mr. Freeman. Wow, the typical Friday night traffic out of L.A./Santa Monica and through Malibu keeps getting worse and worse.

He went through the 1st to 6th C. BC coins and then we talked for some time. Yes, the Daric is authentic.