Fake or genuine?

Hello

I was reading the posts in this forum for a while and decided to join. I am new to the ancient coins so I need some help to identify them. So as my first post, please help me identify this Sasanian coin and whether it is fake or genuine?

 

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Welcome @Fereydoon . Your coin is not in my area... so I am no help.
Your coin looks like these - https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?similar=3709970

 

Looks OK to me.

 

Thanks @rrdenarius. Yes I can see the first item in the list is quite similar to this coin

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3348284

But my posted coin looks too shiny and new, Could that lead us to any conclusion ?

 

These coins seem to have worn well so the coins still look mostly silver in appearance and some luster isn’t uncommon.

If you have a scale, weigh it and compare to weights of coins listed online in the links given. Measure it as well and compare. It looks like a Shapur and I don’t see anything obviously wrong with it. If you get a chance show it in person to a dealer.

 

Most ancient silver coins are cleaned. They age or tone after cleaning. The lack of toning is an indicator of how long ago the coin was cleaned. You can find descriptions like: old cabinet toning to describe coins that were cleaned decades or centuries ago. See the post by @kazuma78 - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-won-something-cng-win.354167/#post-4035458

 

Its an Ardashir I issue. From the pic looks ok to me. I am not liking the top of the crown, but it could be the strike.

 

Thanks @medoraman please tell me what do you see in the crown which looks wrong?

 

Here is what that kind of crown usually looks like:



I am not a huge collector of Ardashir. I focus more on some other timeframes of Sassanid history. I would need to look yours up in SNS to see if its published. He dd issue a massive amount of coins, though, and varieties are common. Hopefully others more into his coins would have a better answer for you.

 

Fereydoon, What reasons do you have to doubt its authenticity?

I have a couple of Ardashir I coins and a few more coins of other Sassanian presidents. I would say the fabric of your coin looks odd. But a sharper image could change my mind.

From my hoard, picture courtesy of cng:

 

@Agricantus What makes me feel odd about this coin is the looking of the metal . Metal seems new to me. But the above coin from @medoraman also seems shiny and new , so not sure if my feeling is really valid? So when you say Fabric what exactly it means? Please explain more. Unfortunately this is only pic I have of it as its in my deposit box and I have no access to it at the moment

 

One small note when handling coins since no one else mentioned it. Please hold all your coins with your fingertips and the edges only. Fingerprints and/or oil from your hands could potentially ruin or lessen the value of said coin.

 

There is a difference between the shine of medoraman's coin and yours. Sort of like alloy wheels compared to chromium. I think there is a certain flatness of the flan, perhaps it's just due to the photography. I expect to see certain things like the waviness at 8 o'clock on medoraman's coin. Or the depression matching the korymbos at 3 o'clock on the reverse on my coin. All things that happen due to how think the flans are. The beads and script on the reverse look unusually sharp compared to the altar.

it would help to know where you got the coin, if the source is trustworthy.

 

Thanks @Agricantus , you laid out lots of details that I did not know actually. I got the coin from a not very well known source, hence I need some help on being sure if it is authentic. However, I did some research and found some coins from well known sources which do not have some of the features you expected. For example look at these coins, they don't have the depression on reverse beads and their reverse beads and script seems very sharp.

https://www.sarc.auction/SASANIAN-KINGDOM-Ardashir-I-224-241-AR-drachm-4-25g-VF-EF_i36696565

https://www.sarc.auction/SASANIAN-KINGDOM-Ardashir-I-224-241-AR-drachm-4-33g-EF_i35286638

https://www.icollector.com/SASANIAN-KINGDOM-Ardashir-I-224-241-AR-drachm-4-30g-VF-EF_i29824240

 

I only have a few of these Sassanian pieces but I have observed that the tone of these coins seems somewhat different from Greek and Roman silver so, as I look at yours, I am not disturbed by anything I can see. These early Sassanian coins are among the scarcer types. You might want to go out onto the net to sites selling ancient coins and check the adds for these coins. Most will tell you their weights which will give you an average of what they should weigh. Weigh yours and see how close they are. The first thing that makes question the authenticity of a coin is its weight being off, usually lighter in weight from what it is supposed to weigh. Let me put it this way, if I were at a coin show and could get this coin for a reasonable price I would probably buy it.

 

Just to clarify, my concern is the shape of the crown. I do not remember the OP's coin's shape before. It looks like a volleyball was cut and placed on his head. However, there were tons of mints with different styles, and I simply am not enough of an expert on Ardashir coins to condemn the coin based upon only the crown.

 

@medoraman I am also a beginner in these types, so I am hoping some experienced collector who knows these coins to provide his opinion

 

Well, I am not a beginner. I would say you need more of an advanced expert on Ardashir types. I have been collecting Sassanian for 20 years.

Here is a good website for them. I did not see a match, (though this is not a comprehensive website), but maybe a late die state Gobl III.

http://grifterrec.rasmir.com/sasania/sasanian.html

 

Thanks I came across this site while doing research. Does it contains images of all possible dies and portraits? As for the experts, Yea I am trying to find someone who knows Ardashir coins specially well.

 

At the time of Ardashir, there were only four established mints: Stakhr, Hamadan, Ctesiphon, and Marw. I see nothing "wrong" about the korymbos. Both it and the overall style are a bit cruder than the earliest Sasanian issues, but falls comfortably within Hamadan, phase 3, according to Michael Alram. Another example, from my former collection.