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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 1945123, member: 19463&quot;]As usual, this has a story.&nbsp; I bought this one:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]338509[/ATTACH] </p><p>I believe it is a Pi IV style from the mid 4th century.&nbsp; The coin is not as it was when it arrived and I now wish I have taken a photo of it before I touched it.&nbsp; The seller stated the coin was fourree and from the emergency of 406 BC but that was obviously ridiculous since the style is much later.&nbsp; I assumed the coin was just a contemporary fake but something bothered me.&nbsp; The seller said the coin weighed 17.02g.&nbsp; That is heavy for a fourree.&nbsp; I have a classical fourre that is heavy at 16.5g and it is very noticeably wider than most tets.&nbsp; This one has a narrow flan (21mm) and showed in the seller image a test cut completely filled with black material but no wear through to core that I could see.&nbsp; The coin has some wear so I&#039;d expect more core exposure or a lighter weight.&nbsp; It has residue of dark material on the surfaces which turned out to be incompletely removed &#039;fund patina&#039;.&nbsp; On arrival, exam under a binocular microscope showed the test cut was filled with black wax or tar.&nbsp; A little picking with a pin removed it showing no copper.&nbsp; The coin weighed more than a fourree because it was a solid item.&nbsp; After &#039;cleaning&#039; it now weighs only 16.98g which seems acceptable for a worn coin.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>A genuine &#039;emergency&#039; fourree will sell for more than a solid coin but regular &#039;other&#039; fake fourrees sell for less.&nbsp; Test cut coins sell for less than uncut ones but this is about as unobtrusive a cut as I have seen not wrecking the owl as most do.&nbsp; The seller was asking a fair price for a test cut coin and was not priced at the level for an emergency issue.&nbsp; I ordered it hoping that I would find it not a fourree but it was a risk.&nbsp; Test cuts are common on coins of this period.&nbsp; I already had a similar one with two more severe cuts.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]338520[/ATTACH] </p><p>This older coin has less wear&nbsp; but the worst possible test cut destroying both sides.&nbsp; I guess this is an upgrade.&nbsp; I know most of you would avoid any cut but I am not willing to pay the price for perfect owls I see.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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