I have heard a grader at the FUN show reply to the question you asked: "Yes it's real." The obverse surfaces look "funky." Not like crystallization. It's as if they have been purposely altered to hide something. What about a magnified post of just the center of the head...just for the heck of it.
I agree that it appears real and it resembles what I believe is also a worn Drachm of Kolophon that I picked up at a Forum auction months ago.....
Hold out for a nicer, more original, "natural" coin (w/o scratch) like the one in post#4 unless you want that particular mint/ruler. Yes, a person comes to the table and asks "Is it real?" while handing him a coin. "Yes it's real!"
This is an issue of Lysimachos in the name of Alexander. Kolophon mint. Struck circa 301-297 BC. Thompson 119 var. (lion forepart); Price 1836
Ha, this isn't like US coins where you're expected to memorize each die pairing. All you really need to know is how to access that information. It's a simple matter of looking it up in Price.
Don't think it would work on that fellow. However, at an ANA show, Mark Salzberg was giving free opinions for a half hour or so. After speaking with the NGC staff to make sure it would be OK, I sent someone up to the table with a crude fake Trade dollar with a message on the reverse to show him. It went over real big - NOT ...He is a serious guy when at work at a show.
Why on earth would he wish to do that? All Mark did at the show was FROWN, look at all of us and got back to work helping collectors. IMO, he is a great guy, has a big heart, is a big plus to the hobby, charitable, and lots of fun to be around. Now I'm sorry I remembered/shared that story
ahahaha, sorry, I was merely joking ... Ardy is the dude that evaluates all of the CNG auction coins, so I always claim that he's The King o' coins (actually, I'm betting that Ardy isn't really a very good scrapper) ... I have no idea who MarkSz is (but I'm sure that he's a very nice fellow)
