Tooling on ancient silver coins

The fine for your crime is one tetradrachm. You know the one I want.

 

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Sounds fair... Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

Hey wait a minute...


Just kidding @TIF you and Agathocles here are the best!

 

I think it's still a beautiful coin, in spite of the surface scratches.

 

Poor cleaning to my eyes. But you are correct to check silver for tooling. There have been some pretty stunning examples of repair work done on silver. Repairs that required before/after photos to convince people. Repairs that significantly raised the coins value....until the fraud was pointed out.


The lesson....caveat emptor before you carpe diem

 

I will by a "Tooled" coin if it looks cool.

Depends on the price.

 

This is an example of tooled silver. Though it is described by the current seller as "light smoothing"

 

@maridvnvm
That's a great example of pretty clumsy tooling. I find it hilarious that the seller described it as having "light smoothing". However, there are professional artisans out there doing a much, much tighter job altering coins. I worry about that.

@Fujio1
You are right to be critical, skeptical, and suspicious. It's a good thing to be when collecting ancients. Cheers!

 

This seller is a big name seller but this is through their ebay venue. This "coin" has gone through 2 major auction houses in the last two years, one added a note after the original posting about the tooling the other had no mention at all.

 

A couple Vespasian examples.

RIC 977. The reverse is tooled.



RIC 1432. The obverse portrait's hair is tooled.



I purchased the above coin but had to return it after Lars Rutten pointed out this example with the same obverse die which isn't tooled.