Hey there! Been recently looking through my older coins and this is BY FAR the oldest...well I think coins... I have. It appears to be a coin buy I can't make anything out on the entire coin. I know nothing about coins but I jump to Egypt or something if I had to guess. But then again I know nothing! Anyone have any thoughts? The condition isn't great by any means but still it appears it could be 200 years old or more. Thanks again.
Thank you very much for your quick and accurate response! Much appreciated. Any insight on price? I cant find anything anywhere so far. I actually found it in with a tin of my fathers coins I inherited. Nothing big just things he tucked away over the years like his dad. But never threw away. Same old story right lol
I have one of the OP types in my "Black Cabinet" and have seen many. It is totally worthless and you may smash it flat with a sledgehammer to take it out of the pool of replicas that prompt questions.
Sorry about it being a replica, but welcome @Clout. Stick around. You may find something interesting here.
Please do not be discouraged Clout. I have endured many such disappointments in my long ancient coin collecting lifetime.
totally worthless???? i payed a 1 dollar for mine at a coin show...man, i got ripped off! i had fun figuring out what the heck these things were. i guess they were part of a readers digest promotion ...don't remember when, back in the day (60s?).
As I recall they were glued two to a paper explaining why you wanted to buy the books. I suspect there might be a value to the intact ad with coins in place but the loose coins strike me as greatly overvalued at a whole dollar.
At the shop I work at, it is a rare week when at least one of these doesn't come in as part of a collection. I must have 100 in my "fake, counterfeit and altered" box!
Well, as has been discussed already, this was part of a Readers Digest subscription (or maybe sweepstakes) campaign. I remember getting the letter in the mail back in the 80's. I was already collecting ancients, so I kept it for some time. Dont know why, really. Long gone. They turn up constantly, especially on Ebay where people ask up to (I think once) a million $$. They must have made hundreds of thousands of them. I suppose they have a collectible value, maybe $1? The word "Copy" on it should be warning enough.
I say it does have value if it brings a person to this forum to ask questions and maybe have an interest sparked. As we all know there are many people who think all ancient coins are in museums or are worth thousands of dollars. Maybe we can show some good people what a great hobby this is and convince them to join us.
@Clout Welcome to the ancient wing of cointalk, glad to have you here. At first glance, I missed the word copy in the bottom of your last pic. I found half a dozen examples of your coin in an internet search with the words "tetradrachm of Gela". In case you are interested one of these is for sale in an auction with an estimate of $2500. It looks like this - Silver Tetradrachm from SICILY, Gela. Circa 450-440 BC. Obverse - Quadriga driven slowly to right by a bearded charioteer; above, Nike flying right to crown the horses; in exergue, palmette with tendrils. Rev. CΕΛΑΣ Forepart of man-headed bull to right. 25mm, 17.23 g
