If you crop your pictures to get rid of the acres of open space, the result will be large enough images to base an opinion on.
The coin appears to be from the southern Italian district of Lucania, the city of Sybaris. It is a part of whats called the Magna Graecia...southern Italian areas colonized by the Greek. here are two similar examples of the coin: Info would be something like: Lucania, Sybaris AR Nomos. Circa 530-510 BC. VM in exergue, bull standing left on dotted exergual line, head reverted / Incuse bull standing right on dotted exergual line, head reverted. SNG Cop 1388. SNGANS 828 I wouldnt comment on authenticity. The top example is a 3000 USD coin while the lower example is more like 500 USD in auction...of course more retail I would think.
Thanks Drusus, is there any way I can give enough details here to see if it's really authentic, of should I take it to a coin dealer?
I wouldnt make any authenticity judgement unless I simply see glaring signs of casting or the like. I can see enough of the coins detail to tell you it is not even close to as well preserved as the one I posted. I also see that it has pockmarks and soft details that COULD be a sign of casting. This is a pretty valuable coin to have just found somewhere...the first one I posted sold for around 3000 USD, yours seems to be in worse condition. This is a coin that is roughly 2500 years old. You say you found the coin 'somewhere'...knowing where and how you found the coin would be of interest to me. I would say in the condition its in, the coin is worth possibly more than a thousand dollars...it would be worth sending it to someone like David Sears to be authenticated...something like 40 dollars for that service. I wouldnt venture an opinion on this one and would urge you to have it examined by an expert with the coin in hand.
