Hi I wonder whether anyone has seen this (punic) coin before. It weighs 5.9gr, is 0.95 high and 23mm in diameter, i.e. it has a density of approx 15g/cm3, between gold and silver. What surprises me is the redish patina. Ideas?
Oxide can turn copper in an alloy red....it is usually spotty but can often times cover the whole coin causing a full red patina.
Carthage-AU Electrum fractional stater, 5th-3rd century BC, head of Tanit/Horse. That's all I can tell you about it.....I don't know anything about the idividual type.
Zeugitana, Carthage EL fr Stater. ca 264-241 BC. Head of Tanit left, wreathed with grain, in triple pendant earring & necklace with many pendants / Horse standing right, uraeus above, pellet behind left foreleg. Gulbenkian 387-388, SNG Copenhagen 183. Jenkins 444 should I tend to agree its not genuine..I could be off.
That cant be electrum...looks more billion or AE but I am not familar with any that that have the uraeus-serpents / sun globe above. Not to say it doesnt exists and I havent seen it.
It could well be a contemperary forgery, it sort of looks right there again I have been known to be wrong in the past LOL I will say though I like it.
well..if its an electrum stater like this one: it should be roughly (10.5 gm) The distinctive feature of this electrum coinage is the solar disc with uraei, the sacred cobras, which appears on the reverse. Borrowed from Egyptian art with some modifications (the uraei replacing th spread falcon's wings), this symbol may be associated with a sun-god. trihemistater should be roughly 10.6 - 10.8gm I am not finding any of this type smaller...
The weight is what surprises me, too. Is a small punic coin like mine known at all or do I have to expect that it is a fake? Does anyone know the typical thickness/height of a trihemistater?
There isn't a typical thickness, because the quality of the electrum influenced the amount of metal in the coin.
Welcome aboard,Schleswig.You have got to be EXTREMELY careful with these coins,as there are some extremely deceptive forgeries that are doing the rounds. Aidan.
