My grandfather passed away last year and he came from a sea faring family. I was left with some coins this one i've had ALOT of trouble identifying could someone please shed some light on this for me it would be much appreciated. Thanks, Mike
My only suggestion is to post your picture and question on the "World & Ancient Coins" thread on this site. It looks like it could be Roman to me, but I don't know squat about ancient coins.
The bust on the obverse is in a Hellenistic style. But Hellenistic kings generally did not put their portraits (or at least such realistic ones) on their bronze, it was usually images of deities. I'm suspicious it may be a base metal counterfeit.
It is not a counterfeit, my great great grandfather was a sea captain out of eastern Canada he travelled the whole world over and collected many items this has been in the family for generations. I wasn't even aware of this coin it was sitting in an old leather satchel for god knows how long. The coin is an inch and 1/4 in diameter. And weighs more than a dollar, it is quite heavy. Also there is some kind of deity on the back that doesn't clearly come out on the picture. It is raised. Thank you for your comments. Mike
At 1 and a quarter inches, its way to big to be a bronze from that era. Its fairly safe to say that this is a modern counterfeit of a Hellenistic Greek tetradrachm. Sorry :-/
you'd be talking about a modern counterfeit from the late 1800's if I'm understanding what he wrote. BTW - not to hijack this thread but I was on Madison Avenue yesterday and saw some amazing Greek Coins in jewelry, not the cheap stuff. they were some of the best Greek Owls I had ever seen. The gallery was called Antiquarium Ltd at 948 Madison Avenue 10021 1-212-734-9776 and worth viewing if you happen to get into town. Ruben
