Hi coin-friends. If I'm reading Greek well, the reverse of this silver Tetradrachm indicates it was Seleukid or maybe struck in Sidon. As for the reverse, well all the Macedonians look similar to me. Hope I caught an important coin. It weighs 17.1 g. Thanks for your comments.
WOW, 7-C, you seem to be hitting on quite a few excellent silver Greek coins---and Tets to top it off .. Congrats!! But, I'm a bit confused as to how you purchase these types and the seller fails to ID them for you by at least type, mint and ruler ? In the months to come, I should be acquiring a few more of these---hopefully, my skill at translating the Greek will improve from what it is at this point. Like you, I'd have to go through all the mints to better determine what I actually have.
Charles, go to Wildwinds -> Greek coins -> use the drop-down menus to access the pages for the Seleukid Kings (Seleukos I, etc). Scroll through the pictures. Look for one with the same control marks on the reverse.
Yes, Seleukos I, Babylon mint. However, I have not seen one with DI below the throne. Nevertheless it appears to be a modern cast replica.
Very flat surfaces, artificial toning (the kind you get from non-silver), overall bad style and visible casting seams.
I see what appears to be a casting seam on the reverse image at 8 o'clock. The obverse image is too blurry to tell much, but the reverse image looks wrong (hard to say why I think that). Perhaps better images will reveal that I'm wrong. I hope so. I just hate the "F" word.
I have to agree with the probably not genuine verdict. The obverse portrait is difficult to judge because of the scan. On the reverse the style of depiction of Zeus is off and the surfaces look artificial. For comparison, a reverse from Seleukos in the name of Alexander, Babylon Mint, Price 3708:
I'm grateful. I understand that among the 3 Tetradrachms I bought and posted here in the past few days, only one is likely not genuine. I'll go to my dear seller very soon and exchange it for another Tet. Do you agree with me sincere fellows ?
Probable cast fake ???? Well, that seems to answer the question why they are not properly Identified.... And now that casts some doubt on the others---Are they from the same seller???
Yes they are. I kindly appreciate your concern MZ. Please keep up with this matter so that we can come out with the adequate decision in order to choose among exchanging, returning back or purchasing more coins.
Here are scans of the other Tet which figured only in a brief reply. It represents goddess Artemis, daughter of Zeus, and struck in Macedonia.
Interesting. Can we see the edges? BTW I do not see casting seams at 8 o'clock. However I am on East Coast time, so maybe we have a time difference
Hi. Bing and Ken were referring to the first coin of Selukos I and Zeus when talking about the 8 o'clock and the visible casting seams. The matter now concerns the second coin of Artemis which was struck in Macedonia. Please post your opinions and comments, since it would make a big difference to me when exchanging these 2 coins on Monday. I do appreciate your assistance friends.
It seems I can be fooled far too often (50% of the time?) so my opinion is probably just going to confuse the issue and not clarify anything. I hope it's genuine 7-C