Post your seleukids

I give up.

 

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Not hard to fake.

Yes they are modern fakes and yes you should try to get a refund.

Note that CoinTalk member maridvnvm is the moderator for the Fakes board on Forvm and is very experienced. His opinion carries authority.

 

Thank you for the confirmation. i will surely demand refund now.

 

As Martin stated, everything about the 'fakes' he posted and the examples that you posted are identical in every way ....and that's impossible with individually struck coins except as cast replicas.

In my book, Martin is the unquestioned expert in this area. Sellers are notoriously slow to acknowledge that they may have mistakenly sold a fake and you definitely should get a refund---any doubt means there's no doubt.

Try to be patient and purchase from reputable dealers and auction houses and avoid those coins offered at incredible discounts that generally are far more costly in the marketplace.

BTW: We all have run across a fake or two but a 'lifetime guarantee of genuineness' and backed by a refund policy goes a long way to alleviate the the inconvenience of the experience.

 

SELEUKID KINGDOM
Seleukos I Nikator , 312 - 280BC

Former General for Alexander the Great

 

No doubt these are fakes. I am also pretty sure you cannot legally buy ancient coins from Iraq. WOW! Why would you ever do that? I am sure the state department would love to hear that. Did you ever consider you might be sponsoring enemies of the US abroad? Again WOW!

 

LOL, you can take a horse to water...
Thank you for your analysis, though. I always enjoy learning from your posts.

 

One of mine Seleucid coin

 

These are camera pics and the surface is quite glossy so they don't come out as clear as the coin is in hand.

Antiochos VI 144-142 BC
Radiate and diademed head of Antiochos VI / reverse legend BASILEOS ANTIOXOY EPITHANOYS DIONYSOY (not sure how to add Greek letters) Kantharos with palm to right and mongram to left 7.69g 19mm HGC9, 1044

 

Here is Antiochus VII. I consider Seleucid portraiture to be some of the best of the ancient world.

 

I'm with Martin. Are you by chance descended from Cassandra?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra
There is only so much to say and it has been said.

 

Well, I've had the chance to fully review the literature about fake coins provided kindly by a member who posted it in reply to my post.

Nothing in the guide suggests to me that the coin on the right (Aexandria) is a fake. (I can't comment on the other coin as I returned it to the seller based on Martin's comments.)

As the guide wisely states you cannot categorically state that a coin is fake based on pictures.

And here's why I'm pretty confident my coin is original:

1. There is absolutely no bubbling or dots on the surface of the coin as had been suggested. Anything taken as such is in fact just spots of tarnish that do not breach the surface of the coin. You can see this clearly when tilting the coin in the light. These spots of grime/tarnish can be wiped away but I'd rather keep the coin as it is.

2. The coin has deep lustre highlights, the letters included, and parts of the letters are sharply defined, not soft or dull.

3. The surface of the coin has concave inclination, in keeping with being a coin that has been struck not cast.

4. The photo of the coin provided by Martin is much softer and less defined than my coin. My coin has details in the eye, curls of hair, more sculpted shape of feet and is an overall more accomplished piece of art. It is sharper, more realistic and is certainly no facsimile of the cast version (with bubbles) provided by Martin. There is even an extra wisp of hair below the ear that does not feature in the cast coin.

After reading the literature and reviewing my coin carefully I am very clear it is likely original. It is in fact a coin that was in circulation in the place I bought it. So it is perhaps not so surprising to find very good examples of real ancient coins here.

And as for the snooty person assuming I might get in trouble with the state dept for buying ancient coins in Iraq, kindly note I'm not American but an Iraqi citizen and I have every right to buy coins from antique stores in my place of birth!

I clearly believe, respectfully, that Martin has got it wrong on this occasion based on impressions from photographs that led to the wrong conclusions but I do appreciate the pointers that have helped me come to this conclusion and understand the things to look out for with ancient coins. I'm
going to have the coin checked out in person by a coin collector and expert in Scotland next month so watch this space...

Thanks all

Az

 

And I also think it is a person with extremely thin skin and weakness of self confidence to have me barred as a member based on anything I had said in my original posts

 

And hopefully a certain someone with extremely thin skin will not bar me again based on very little other than my seeking advice on a forum ! Have some grit and good sense, Mr Moderator

 

@Antiochus V
I am afraid that your coins are fake.
I hope that you did not pay much for them.
PS- Iraq is an interesting county. I hope to visit it one day.

 

Thank you Magnus. I will check the Antiochus coin again when I'm back at the store later in the week- that one MAY may be fake. (I will provide a quick update if I don't get barred again!) But it would be a little odd to fake coins somewhere where they can be found as a part of the history of the place. But based on my reading of the literature and a very careful examination of the Akexandria coin I feel this is bona fides. I will find out definitively next month during my trip to the UK. I am curious as to why you still feel it is fake? (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/post-your-seleukids.278705/page-3)

 

I am not assuming your an American and I am not snooty - but I am so sorry you are an Iraqi citizen.

Oh and by the way take your "antiques" to Scotland, you might want to register them first or hide them in your poop shoot.

https://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/iraq07enl.html

 

This is a coin collector forum. We're here to discuss old coins not unsavoury scatological matters..

 

@Antiochus V Will get back to you tomorrow on why I think your coins are fake, way past my bed time.
Night night.

 

Cleopatra Thea, Queen of Syria, with son Antiochus VIII.
AR tetradrachm. 15.85 gm. 27 mm.
Antioch mint, 125-121 B.C.E.
Obv: Jugate busts, r.
Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ, Zeus Nikephoros seated l., holding lotus-tipped scepter; IE outer left, A under throne.
Refs: SNG Spaer 2437; c.f. Sear 7135.
Ex-Henry Clay Lindgren.