OK, time to take my medicine. I bought these from ebay at low price. I realize that they might be fakes, but take a look and help me out...please...
I don't know enough about these to say yea or nay. They look fine to me. The test cuts are off-putting to many collectors, but I don't mind them. Hopefully they turn out as genuine.
Ok I'll be the first to say it. I really don't think so. Granted I'm no expert on these but I have been drooling over them for years as I search for the one I want to buy. The size and weight is ok but could be the wear as to the cheap deal you got. But I still have my doubts. Ok just my 2 cents
There a lot of very well travelled Tets around these days. The first one looks like a Type A Classical Owl, c. 454-431 BC. The second one is classical (454-393 BC) as well, the type is too hard to tell. The die axis is typical. The lettering looks OK and is in the position and has the features you’d hope to see. The first flan shape is expected, the second is a bit less common for a classical tet but certainly not unreasonable. The wear is a bit odd, rather even throughout instead of concentrated in the high areas, and the test cuts, bankers marks, and wear could be an effort to cover that. It seems self-defeating for a faker to do that much damage to hide they are casts, as it limits the value of the coins. Maybe the even wear is the result of over cleaning (tumbling/burnishing) instead. The weight of the second coin is too light for even a well worn Athens owl (test cuts and banker marks don’t remove metal), but it is possible it is an imitive one from the surrounding area. Given the state of the coins I’d put even more emphasis on the reliability of the seller. Please tell me it was a reliable seller. Enjoy your coins.
Unfortunately I can't say the seller was "reliable", more so that the seller was not a coin dealer, mostly jewelry. For the second coin, the weight bothered me too, but the flan is small and misshapen and perhaps the coin had been clipped. I'll believe that they are authentic, with a grain of doubt in the back of my mind.
