Here a recent purchase I wanted to run by you all. I have no reason to suspect this coin of being a fake but I know that this type too often is. It is a higher end coin than I don't usually come by. I could not resist) Thrace, Cheronessos. BC 386-338 AR Hemidrachm. 2.48 Grams. 13.5 mm O: Forepart of lion rt, head left RX: Quadripartite incuse square, pellets in opposite sunken quarters Well struck, high relief with light toning
I hope it is OK, I am not great at spotting fakes, although I would be slightly bothered about the lack of wear. See what the experts say.
The fabric and style look perfectly fine to me, dimensions look fine. I'm no expert on these coins, but it looks good to me. I recently had this one, a scarcer variety with pentagram.
I've handled a fair number of these. I've learned never to make absolute pronouncements about authenticity from photos, but I'm pretty confident this is OK.
Agree. I have a few, but here is one like yours, obviously with much more wear: THRACE AR Hemidrachm OBVERSE: Forepart of lion right, head turned back REVERSE: Quadripartite incuse square, a pellet in each of the two sunken quarters Struck at Cherronesos, 400-350 BC 2.16g, 12mm SNGCop 824, BMC 8
If the lion is centered, they're still quite attractive when worn. At NYINC this year, I looked through a hoard of several hundred. I was surprised at how poorly they were made, most of them being struck weakly and severely off-center. And most were heavily worn and many damaged. Previously I had only seen "nice" ones for sale, but from what I saw of that hoard, there are at least a hundred ratty coins for every collectible one. They were obviously produced hastily and en masse for prodigious amounts of commerce.
Recent goings on on this list made me swear off giving opinions on authenticity any more but I agree with Volodya and hope this is good. I have all of this type coin I intend to buy. The hobby is more fun buying coins with fewer questions but we will still make a mistake now and then.
Thank you all for your replies! And sharing your examples This the second of this type that I have. This one being the better of the two. I am loving the high relief, centering and detail. I believe the coin is real and the seller whom I also trust as knowledgeable and trustworthy would refund if there was a problem. Your opinions are always appreciated. I fully get the difficulty of determining authenticity in an online forum. Even in hand authenticity can be hard to determine. Yet I am amazed it some of fakes you all uncover and consider you all a quality resource that I would be silly not to utilize
Nice capture @TJC ! Nice Lion! Mine's a bit worn, but has a treasure map... Cherronesos AR Hemi-Drachm - TriObol Seaby-Sear Vol I 1606 X marks the spot, and a jug of wine is the treasure! (or... with the pellet, it is an Ancient version of the Jolly Roger!)
Looks OK to me too. Thrace, Chersonesos (386 - 338 B.C.) AR Hemidrachm O:Forepart of lion right, head reverted. R: Quadripartite incuse square with alternating raised and sunken quarters; pellet to left of VE monogram and pentagram above pellet in opposite sunken quarters. 13mm 2.4g BMC 43; McClean –; Weber 2422; SNG Copenhagen –; SNG Dreer 115.
