Ancient Greece Coin Thrace? - Info needed and is it real?

Hi Any info or opinions on this coin appreciated. I think maybe it is (or is supposed to be) a coin from Thrace? It is about 31mm and 13.7g.

Thank you!

 

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Personally I am seeing a fake. My reasoning is that if the softness of the detail was cuased by wear then the higher parts should be worn but the lower parts should be more sharp. On this coin I actually see MORE detail the higher relief it is, and less on the lower relief portions. Soft strike also would not explain this.

I am never one to condemn a coin only from a photo, but I would guess its a cast fake. Have an expert look at it those please to confirm.

Are there any cast marks on the edges?

Chris

 

Chris - thanks for the reply and the insight

Here are a couple pictures of the edge. Uneven thickness and some facets but fairly smooth I think. Do you know the name of this coin - or what it is faking?

 

Look at the edge. See how there appears to be a horizontal band on it? It appears to me the edges were filed smooth, but the trace of the casting marks remain. This is frequently done to improve the appearance.

The coin appears to me to be a reproduction of a tetradrachm given those dimensions, but a bronze that size is also a possibility. I prefer to have others who know more about Greek issues like this comment more intelligently on this coin than I can.

Chris

 

I am not aware of a bronze like this and there are a lot of fakes of the silver tetradrachms. My guess is that the chance of the item being over 100 years old is less than 1%. I've been wrong before but I wouldn't buy this one. The style is good so I agree with it being a cast made from a genuine original.

 

Thank you both. I didn't pay too much and it is a really cool coin to hold so while of course it would be wonderful if it were real I don't mind keeping it in my collection even if it is a fake.

Any recommendations for where to send it for an expert to take a look at it if I decide to explore that option?

 

I bet a few on this board could have more definite positions if they post, (not that Doug is not an expert in many things). If I were you, I would take it to a show where an ancient dealer will be. A larger show with many dealers would be even better.

 

are these real

 

Those are examples of two of the most highly faked ancients in history. The examples shown, though, appear good. Closer pictures would be needed to get a better feel of them. Where do these pics come from? They look like plate coins from a book.

Chris

 

It's from this site (about 1/2 way down):

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Money.htm

 

So you were just testing us? :devil:

Those two pieces are very famous, the bull head is found 99.9% of the time as a cheap fake made in the 60's, and the second has been faked for 500 years minimum, as its considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Greek coinage, and was also faked badly in the 60's. I think some cereal company made bad fakes as enclosed prizes, and they have been the bane of collectors since. Almost every coin show in IA I, (since I was the only member of the coin club who collected ancients), would be brought these, and people would get mad when I told them "grandpa's treasure" was a cheap fake.

Chris

 

I got about 4 of these.