Kings of Macedon, Philip II Tetradrachm

Wow, awesome coins y'all.

 

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Race, totally awesome, well centered hunk of silver, i love the obverse.well done!!

 

Gorgeous coin, Dirk. Welcome.

 

Doggone it. Everyone is posting one of these ans I still do not own one. BTW, that is another beautiful example Dirk.

Oh yeah, and welcome (even though you make me want to buy one of these ).

 

Just buy one, Bing. You can apologize later.

 

It's not the apology that frightens me.......

 

If you buy one, get one for me too .

 

Sure. How about two?

 

I hesitate to post this, but I just bought a coin supposedly of Philip II and in another posting, people said it is fake. I accept that judgement, but with such a collection of experts looking at real coins, can you tell me how you could see that this one is fake? Please don't batter me too much, I'm still trying to learn.

 

I still like that coin Kentuck. Too bad so many have said it's fake. For the purpose of a discussion like this, you should post the weight and deminisons if you have them.

 

Hey Kentucky, sorry friend, but it was already determined that this coin was fake. The diameter is wrong, the weight is off, it has the look of a cast coin, and the seller preciously sold it as a replica. You paid $89 for a "coin" that should cost at least a thousand. I don't know what more you want.

When it arrives, take a good look at it to see what a fake is like in hand, then send it back. Sorry bro.

 

@Kentucky

To answer your question as to "how to determine it's a fake."

I'm no expert by any means. But I've never seen a reverse quite like that one. Most Philip II Tets have the youthful rider reverse like the one I posted in the OP or the King reverse. Like this:


The reverse on your coin seems to be a bit of a hybrid between the two.

I wouldn't beat yourself up too bad. If it sounds too good to be true, then it usually is. You did the right thing asking about it on this forum. Lots of expert eyes here.

Next time just get their opinion before you pull the trigger.

 

He said 27 mm and 14.8 g. I looked at some Philip Tets and thought I saw similar stats, perhaps I became confused. Yeah, I noticed the reverse had a different look, but with all the variations for ancients, I didn't know if this was a possibility. Thanks for the responses, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

We always have trouble with the question of why we think something. I believe this is a lot like asking one of us to describe our signature. I certainly could say things like, "It starts with a big D" but that accomplishes nothing since there is a big difference between a collection of the right letters and my signature. The best I can do is look and say whether that set of squiggles reminds me of my signature or not. Your coin did not make me want to accept it but that does not mean that I could even specify which squiggle was not what I was expecting. Developing a feel for such things requires experiencing thousands of my signatures or being well trained in the mechanics of handwriting. I only have the first. I have experienced thousands of ancient coins but only a few dozen coins of this type. That means my gut feeling is not something to be taken as infallible. Our collective experience here is not even certain. The best we can do is to compare our experience with fakes and our experience with genuine coins. My personal take on the coin was something in the 95% likely to be fake region. The group of us might push that to 99%. I would be absolutely flabbergasted if anyone whose opinion I previously respected came to the defense of the coin. At this point, the only question that remains to me is whether the seller will refund. I'm not 100% confident on that one either. Keep us posted.

 

I couldn't agree more!!

 

Thanks so much for not castigating me more severely. I looked back and checking sold listings on e-bay, the seller HAD previously sold the coin as a replica. Even though in the new listing he lists it as "no return", I think his relisting it as questionable instead of as a replica would make e-bay cancel the sale. I e-mailed him and told him such. We shall see. Meanwhile I am envious of the OP's coin.

 

I wish you nothing but good luck, Kentucky (man, I hate dudes that try to cheat us sweet coiners!!)

cheers

 

The market on Philip II Tetradrachms has become real slim and pricey over the last 10 years or so.

Like the MACEDONIA (as Roman Protectorate) First Meris Amphipolis Tetradrachm Zumbly posted, I have seen a tremendous contraction of the available examples & quality.

I know you could say the same for a ton of types but, the standard corner stones of any collection -da big ol' silver issues.....no TIF not decadrachms

The Philip II Tetradrachms of the past were very plentiful - I remember passing over examples because the leaves of Laureate did not have enough details - or the small berries in the Wreath were generic looking - there was a test cut - the metal was slightly porous or maybe his beard was not dynamic enough.

I think it does serve to grab these cornerstone pieces when your able - when the example is right cause im sure you all know they just don't always come back around.

Philip V Tetradrachms being a great example of this

 

Very nice!