Help with an Alexander the Great Drachm

This just came in the mail today. Other than NGC's attribution of "Early Posthumous" is there any way to pinpoint more closely the mint, region, time period, etc.? I know that these were minted in many locations over a long period but I'm not sure when the "Early Posthumous" period stopped.

Also I'm curious about the dark depression on the obverse at 12:00. Is this corrosion, PMD or just the way it was minted?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

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Looks pretty dang nice for the grade!

 

*sigh*

 

=> the big depression is probably a banker's mark (or at least some random dude verifying that the coin was actually silver)

There were a lot of counterfeit coins at this time, so the merchants would occasionally make a slit/mark to verify that the coin was actually "real silver" ... the counterfeit coins were lower base metals merely coated in silver (and in those days it really was the metal that was of value)

 

That's actually pretty cool considering it was some dude a couple of thousand years ago. With all the wear I wonder who all spent the coin and what they spent it on.

 

my guess is whores and vegetables (but I could be wrong)

... there was also a lot of seafood available

 

This may be a stupid question, but why doesn't NGC provide the information about the mint, region and time period? I'm not clear what NGC's value-add is here.

 

Sometimes they do but in this case whoever had the coin slabbed bought the economy grading which has a less detailed attribution, no weight & size and no strike/surface grade. The value add is that NGC makes some collectors(especially new collectors and those whose focus is more modern coins) feel safer.

 

An 'economy grading' lol
First time I've heard the term! 'Professional grading' just gets sillier and sillier. It's an industry created to answer a question nobody ever asked.

Not a criticism of the original poster though - the OP coin is nice, I never tire of admiring the many variations of Alexander coinage.

 

On the plus side, cracking a slab is quite rewarding, especially when you didn't pay for the grading

 

I almost want to buy one just to crack it. I've never done it before.

 

I've never had the pleasure of liberating slabbed coins, but I would love to host a De-slabbing Party!

 

It is quite satisfying. A few taps of the hammer and you free the coin.

 

The coin could be IDed by looking it up in the standard reference by Martin Price:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=price

The book is out of print and sells for a hefty premium but it has 4100 variations on the theme and is considered worth having if you collect Alexander. I don't.

Why anyone buys a coin at slab prices without proper ID, I fail to understand. You could have bought one from a full service dealer who might have IDed it for the same price as the plastic box. You might find it by comparing it to coins sold by CNGcoins using the research tool on their site or on acsearch.com but I warn not to assume a match just because it is close. There are a lot of minor details that will change the Price number. This is not the easy answer but it is cheaper than buying the book.

The really easy answer is to sell the slab to someone who wants a slab and buy an identified raw coin from CNG or any of a hundred other dealers who own Price. I do not recommend removing the coin. Someone will pay for the plastic. We remove coins we want that are not easily found matching our wants.

 

I find myself disagreeing with NGC's overgrading of ancients so often, that's it's a surprise to come across a coin I feel is undergraded. That's a VF coin in my book all day long. The detail is far too strong for an F, even a Choice F. Great example of the type.

As far as the particulars of the attribution, well...many collectors just want a representative type coin, especially when it comes to Alex drachms, and are less interested in specific dates and/or mints.

I've developed my own grading system, which consists of five tiers: Nope, Good, Fine, Very Fine, and Mighty Fine. The only reason a coin gets Nope is if it's diseased beyond conservation or altered. After that you have Good, simply because no collectible coin is bad. There are pretty clear distinctions between coins in F and VF, but going higher than that becomes quite subjective, and a coin can be Mighty Fine for any number of reasons that have to do with numismatic interest and eye-appeal. I hope that's helpful, and if it isn't, feel free to make up your own grading system - we'll probably like it better than NGC's.

 

My grading system is:
- What was I thinking when I bought this?
- space filler that needs an upgrade
- irreplaceable!

 

I've got a few of those, lol.

 

That's a nice drachm KS.

Here's my list o' grades:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
I think I need a few more...

 

I like your system the best!

 

Mostly your posts are interesting and fun. I'm sorry but I don't understand this one (or your previous...sigh).