At Mickey Zee's suggestion, here are the coins I posted in the Books and Coins thread: Alexander (?) Lysimachos As I stated in the other thread, I inherited these coins from my Grandmother (she said she bought them in Greece in the 60s - she suspected it may be possible they were counterfeits, but if so they were so well done that they were worth the cost just as a work of art). I haven't had success attributing either of the coins (haven't really taken the time), but in my small attempts, the Alexander coin has been bit of a puzzle to me. I've seen plenty of silver coins that look like it, but none with this color. Any thoughts?
First is copying a silver coin of Alexander III, (the great). Second looks like a Seleucid coin it is copying. Both look very much like they are cast copies.
Thanks Medorman - it would't surprise me if that were the case. Any other tell-tale signs, or just the weak look of the coins?
Actually just took a look at the edge of the Alexander coin - there certainly seems to be a 'seam' there that I don't see on any of my other ancients. The Lysimachos has it too.
The seam is ALWAYS a sign of a cast coin...and I think that is the answer as M-man suggested... I always hope we run into another unknown or unattributed type---as seems to be happening at an incredible rate since the collapse of the 'iron curtain' and improvements in metal detectors---but apparently not in this particular case...
It's all good - I didn't pay any money for these, so I don't feel cheated, and my grandmother was suspicious when she bought them, so I'm sure she would be fine with this revelation. Now I'll need to check the other coins she bought (which I don't have with me at the moment...)!
Besides a seem, another way to evaluate a coin is by the "mushiness" a cast coin has. This is do to imperfect detail transfer in the casting process. A cast coin usually has a "reverse wear" pattern. What I mean by that is the high points usually have more detail, and the recessed points have less detail than expected. This is exactly the opposite of how a real coin would look. On your obverse, look how the high points look of but there is serious lack of detail on his eye and lips. On the reverse see how the high points are ok, but his arms and lower relief details are missing. That is another strong clue its a cast fake.
