Hey all, first time posting here. In December I stumbled across this pendant made with a silver Attican tetradrachm. The age of the piece just fascinated me, and as a complete newbie in the field, I did not perform as much due diligence as I should have before snatching it up. Since then, I've been enjoying researching ancient coins and am interested in starting a collection. But after oggling over my coin for a while, I've noticed that the owl side has some concerning pitting (especially to the right). Although I've come across other tetradrachms with pitting, these little holes are still naggling me. Do these pits seem like a cause to doubt the coin's authenticity? Any idea what may have caused them? I trust the seller and their intentions, and I think if the piece did end up being a cast fake (it certainly is real silver), they weren't aware and would give me a refund. Best and thanks for any help.
I see nothing to make me doubt the coins authenticity. If you want to see pits, take a look at the new owl tet which I am 100% certain is authentic.
I echo everyone's sentiments so far to say that the coin certainly appears to be genuine from the photos. The "pitting" is likely just crystallized / mineralized metal which happens with metal that old - in fact, I would be more suspicious of a flan that is too smooth and too perfect.
The reason ancient collectors are suspicious of pitting is because of casting bubbles--places where minute amounts of air gets trapped in a mold when a cast copy is made of a coin. But the key word here is "bubbles," which are perfectly round. If you see circular pits on a coin's surface, you should consider the possibility that it is a cast fake. Irregularly shaped pits, like those on the reverse of your coin, are likely the result of normal wear and tear. Enjoy your coin.
Awesome, thank you everyone for your feedback! Now I can put those worries to bed. I definitely want to continue sharpening my ability at identifying natural pitting vs cast bubbles.
Your coin looks okay. The test cuts look deep enough to reveal silver, instead of a base metal core. Stylistically, your coin might be an eastern owl. These coins were produced in huge quantities in the Eastern Mediterranean during the late 5th through 4th centuries BC. These coins were usually in hoards that vary in size, so they were subject to the elements for thousands of years. So, many of these coins have some corrosion (pitting). Cleaning these coins, after their recovery, often goes too far, revealing the rough or pitted surfaces. Owls with most of their original surfaces still intact are quite scarce. Any attempt to remove the surface of this coin would be a disaster.
