Antiochos X Eusebes-- cast fake?

I am not a collector of Seleukid coins but while browsing an upcoming auction this one jumped out at me as suspicious. What do you think about it?

The stick-and-dot legends and devices appear extremely puffy, a characteristic I associate with casting. The white stuff in a few cracks looks like residual investment which wasn't cleaned after casting. The deep black in the crevices can easily be achieved with a number of toning agents. The style looks more cartoonish than usual for Seleukids. The surfaces look cast rather than struck.

I gather that Antiochos X coins are less common than other Seleukids, but in looking through archives I don't see any die matches for this coin. Granted, I didn't spend a ton of time scrutinizing comps.

The coin was slabbed by NGC, apparently part of a bulk submission because no weight is given.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I don't like it either; the style just doesn't look right.

 

Even though I do not collect these (yet), this one does not look right to me. Given your concerns, which make sense, I certainly would not buy it.

 

I don't like it either.

 

If it is fake, I am almost tempted to buy it as a shameful example of an NGC-slabbed fake

 

Agree on the fake verdict. The later Seleukid portraits may sometimes be of a not so brilliant quality, but not this bad.

 

Let this be a lesson to the newbies who think that buying slabbed will protect you. NGC ancients doesn't guarantee anything. Best safeguard is to look at tons of coins of the style you want to buy, research known fakes and telltale signs of fakes, and when in doubt, run it by a forum of enthusiast like there are here on this forum.

If that coin wasn't on an NGC holder, that auction house probably might have rejected it, but put it in an NGC holder and people are less likely to question it. This highlights some of the problems with NGC and what it's doing to the ancient coins hobby. I'm still waiting for the day CAC starts giving NGC ancients stickers, and words like commodity and investment become daily vernacular. Sadly I think that is coming...just like what happened with other US and world coins.

 

Don't forget, though, that NGC doesn't guarantee authenticity for ancients. So basically they can slab whatever they feel like, real or not.

 

Just save the pictures. Surely you don't actually need to own that hideous thing.

 

NGC Ancients = Newbies Grading Casts of Ancients.

Alert the auction house and someone please bring this up to the attention of NGC. Maybe they can be shamed into competency.

 

The auction closes today and there is a bidder for this coin .

 

What a shame, I feel bad for the buyer. Probably a newbie thinking he is safe with an NGC holder. The toning is so obviously fake, and the deposits so suspicious that I still can't believe that one escaped any scrutiny.

 

The NGC grade is Choice VF.

 

Choice Very Fake

 

They can still pull the lot and cancel the bid. Auction houses have done it before, and I respect them more for it.

 

Well somebody tell them then.......

 

Okay. I sent the auction host a message indicating my concerns. It's not a "major" auction house but the seller is known to be upstanding.

 

Maybe PM him here?

 

Is he a CoinTalk member?

 

Stylistically speaking, it certainly is the 'oddest' looking example I've encountered to date, although I only own two earlier Seleucid Tets.....but it looks so 'off' to me I would have precisely shared your concerns too.

I'll be interested in discovering the sellers response.