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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 802895, member: 19463&quot;]The first is a Dekadrachm of Syracuse and probably the most frequently faked ancient coin.&nbsp; This is a good looking one.&nbsp; It could (10% chance???) even be genuine but people like me don&#039;t expertise $20k coins from little photos.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The other is a tetradrachm of Antimachos the Indo-Greek king.&nbsp; He is probably in the top ten most often faked coins but not as bad as the larger dekadrachm. It is worn so would probably only bring $1k if genuine.&nbsp; Chance?&nbsp; 10%???</p><p><br /></p><p>Neither coin should be sold except by or through a major dealer in ancient coins.&nbsp; If sold &#039;privately&#039; and the coin is genuine, you will get a fraction of the price it would bring certified by a major seller.&nbsp; If a fake, you would be cheating the buyer.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The coins should be shown in person to a major dealer (where are you?) or sent to David Sear for certification. </p><p><a href="http://www.davidrsear.com/certification.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.davidrsear.com/certification.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.davidrsear.com/certification.html</a></p><p>&nbsp;It would cost more than a fake is worth to mail it to Sear so I&#039;d start by getting some idea from someone who has seen the coin in person that it has any chance of being real.&nbsp; From the photos you just can not tell it is good.&nbsp; From the photos, I do not see them as obviously fake but such poor photos will not separate out high quality fakes.&nbsp; This page shows a few (all fake):</p><p><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/thumbnails.php?album=10&amp;page=19" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/thumbnails.php?album=10&amp;page=19" rel="nofollow">http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/thumbnails.php?album=10&amp;page=19</a></p><p><br /></p><p>It is extremely unusual for genuine examples of such coins just turning up in the hands of someone who does not know what they are.&nbsp; If the belonged to grandpa and he was known to be a major collector, he should have left instructions.&nbsp; The other possibility is that they are stolen.&nbsp; Of the choices, fake is the most pleasant.&nbsp; I&#039;d feel bad telling you that the coins are fake based only on what we see in the photos but if I were buying, I&#039;d not offer over fake price for them.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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