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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Kevon, post: 7632778, member: 116470&quot;]Akragas is a popular target for high quality counterfeits. I pulled the risky trigger on a tetradrachm and even upon further inspection have not been able to conclusively determine whether it is genuine or fake.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the coin in question.</p><p>&nbsp;<img src="https://i.imgur.com/09twUYt.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/3rCWS8P.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Description by the auction house:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The obverse is associated with both a genuine die and a high quality fake die. The lettering reminds me more of the counterfeit. The edge flaws aren&#039;t exactly typical on Akragas tets which could mean the coin has been hot-pressed. The reverse die is similar to many others tetradrachms, but I have not been able to find a die match. The surface texture doesn&#039;t provide us with many hints; it&#039;s flat and looks worn. The banker&#039;s marks don&#039;t really mean anything and could be modern. The &quot;die rust&quot; could be fake. The weight is correct, but that&#039;d be par for the course on a good fake.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, the counterfeits with this obverse have not been associated with this reverse type. While the &quot;die rust&quot; on the obverse could be fake I have not seen it on any of the counterfeits. There are small hints of doubling on the reverse. Where the crab&#039;s legs seems to end there are actually very faint signs of the full legs as if they&#039;ve worn off. The coin has been struck (or pressed) at a very slight angle. Extremely hard silicate material can be found in some of the cavities and I have found grains of sand stuck in the cavities.</p><p><br /></p><p>It seems like some of the cracked parts might be showing crystallization, but even at 15x magnification I&#039;m finding it impossible to tell. Most of the rougher fractured surfaces which might show the internal structure seem to be covered by the (silica-like?) encrustations.</p><p><br /></p><p>The only perfect obverse match that I&#039;ve been able to find was this tetradrachm sold at Fritz Rudolf Künker Auction 312 (lot 2106):</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/SqwSgmu.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here are two examples of the typical fake as per Forgery Network:</p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Hxsb32t.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/VeSjLHd.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Overlaying the Künker coin with a fake suggests that there are very slight differences, similar to when my coin is overlaid with a fake. Otherwise it is also very close to the fakes including much of the feathering. It has not escaped me that the Künker coin might also be a counterfeit and some of the differences might be explained by the angles of the photos.</p><p><br /></p><p>This case has left me puzzled. What are your thoughts?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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