A stater of Corinth. Widely faked, and due to the unusual circumstances of its discovery, I'd strongly suspect that this one is as well, though I can't say for sure. It does look rather more convincing than a lot of the cheap tourist fakes out there, but be highly suspicious of it until you hear otherwise. Those with more expertise may be able to offer better information. It would be an amazing find if real, but don't hold your breath just yet. It could be a cast counterfeit. I have a real one. Greece (Corinth): silver stater; Pegasus and Athena, ca. 345-307 BC (NGC AU; Strike 5/5, Surface 3/5.)
Here are the full images cropped, joined, and tweaked try to get rid of the glare. The coin looks like it was in the ground for a long time, leaching out some of the metal. On the reverse, the edge under Athena looks very crystalized and that is not an easy thing to reproduce. I think it's likely authentic and from Leukas. Here's a similar coin from CNG's archives: 417, Lot: 176. Estimate $100. Sold for $170. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. AKARNANIA, Leukas. Circa 350-320 BC. AR Stater (22mm, 8.31 g, 11h). Pegasos flying left / Helmeted head of Athena right; kerykeion and Λ to left. Pegasi 92; BCD Akarnania 221; HGC 4, 823. VF, deeply toned, roughness on reverse. @A1000talents, in what country is this hotel? If this was found in a hotel lobby then someone (a collector or dealer? a looter?) lost it. Did you let the hotel's concierge know it was found?
I noticed the crystallization, which is encouraging. How would such a coin end up in a hotel lobby, I wonder? Was there a coin show there? Hmm. (LordM, typing this while at work behind the front desk of a hotel, looks hopefully out the office door at the lobby carpet...) How exciting if it's real.
It was a small coin show in socal. It was in a couch. I loaded better pics. I'm not a big coin guy. I buy military mainly.
Long beach Cal. There was a show nearby. It was in the side of a couch. Must of fallen out of a pocket.
. I got some slabbed Roman and greek. Picked up a Selekos I nfc for $140 from a neighbor. I mostly collect medals Victorian or Georgian Campaign and US/ German. I stay away from old coins for that reason, too many fakes. Unless their slabbed ngc.
Maybe the owner of the coin didn't bother to report its loss, but it is possible that they did or will. Did you ask the hotel if someone reported it lost?
If the former owner of the coin is anything like me, he or she might not have even noticed it's missing yet. Was it in any kind of flip or holder, or just loose, the way a random nickel in someone's pocket would be?
I would tell the show organizer and the hotel that I found a dropped coin and give them contact information, but make the claimant describe it. It belongs to someone else.
I agree. And even if you didn't get a monetary reward from the owner, y'all would know you did the right thing and would surely be recognized for it here. It would even be a fun human interest story for the media. "Ancient Coin Found In Hotel Couch" is an intriguing title. You and your son could have some fun with that, if the owner was on board and OK with being in the press release. That's assuming the person who lost it could ever be found, of course.
PS- it looks much more convincing in the second set of pix! What a cool find. Whether it ends up being a keeper or gets returned to the person who lost it, there's a cool story either way.
