Hi all, Thought I would check with you pro's, before I do anything. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.. I love this coin, and I have a chance to buy it. But, I can't tell if its a fake or not. I think I see casting specks on it. The seller has 100% positive sales. The coin is in Bucharest, Romania. the only description is thus...Celtic roman coin. Danube region. Denarius. silver,13.9 grams.22 mm... Heres some pics to check it out...
Not celtic, not a denarius. Looks like Hoover (handbook of coins of sicily) 1447, a bronze coin of Syracuse. The diameter and weight are correct for it to be 1447. May still be a fake but it is not certain. It is listed as R1 which means 10-30 total known specimens. To me that increases the odds it is a fake. What does the brain trust think?
Theodosius is right-- it resembles a bronze coin of Hiketas II. Together with some soapiness and other problems, I think that makes the OP coin a cast fantasy token. Examples of what it imitates, from CNG's archives (both are bronze, even though the second image looks silvery): 326, Lot: 18. Estimate $100. Sold for $85. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. SICILY, Syracuse. Hiketas II. 287-278 BC. Æ (21mm, 9.00 g, 7h). Struck circa 287-283 BC. Wreathed head of Kore right; torch behind / Nike driving galloping biga right; star above, ΣΩ in exergue. CNS 122 var. (unlisted controls); BAR Issue 38; HGC 2, 1467 var. (same). VF, brown patina, obverse die break. 203, Lot: 25. Estimate $150. Sold for $245. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. SICILY, Syracuse. Hiketas II. 287-278 BC. Æ 22mm (11.06 g, 5h). Struck circa 287-283 BC. Wreathed head of Kore right / Charioteer driving biga right; star above. BAR issue 38; CNS 122 (Agathokles); cf. SNG ANS 763 (Fourth Democracy). Good VF, dark green and brown patina. A 100% positive eBay rating is not as reassuring as you'd think. There are known fake sellers with such high ratings. Also, with apologies to honest Romanians, there are a large number of fakes originating from that country. I'd be extremely reluctant to bid on any eBay coin shipping from Romania. Edited to add that there is a very rare authentic silver tridrachm of the Fourth Democracy of Syracuse which slightly resembles the OP coin (Kore is facing left, the biga is a quadriga and is driven by Nike, etc) but the OP coin is mimicking the AE coin.
