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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;PatrickJered, post: 3078767, member: 95233&quot;]Thanks again everybody for your comments and opinions. For me, the nicest thing about this is how it has ignited in me an interest in ancient coins. I have always been fascinated by the Phoenicians/Greeks/Romans, but some of the images of coins I have seen are stunningly beautiful. </p><p><br /></p><p>My takeaway from what you have all said is that the only way to figure out if the coin is genuine, and the age of the setting, will be to get an expert to actually examine the thing. Photos aren&#039;t good enough. </p><p><br /></p><p>I have now examined it really closely and there are no hallmarks or any other kind of stamps. Since it obviously is gold, and has been made with great attention to detail, I&#039;m assuming it was made by a genuine goldsmith. The lack of a hallmark suggests it is from before the time that hallmarks were introduced (late 1700s?). I truly wonder if fake coins were set in gold in those days. Surely if it was set later than that, say as a con for a tourist, the gold would be hallmarked to prove its value? A friend suggested to me that such coins were brought back by wealthy English folk doing the &#039;grand tour&#039; of Europe. Seems like a reasonable idea that Lord Somebody-or-other might get his souvenir set into a piece of jewelry. Of course, it&#039;s a nice idea that if the coin really is more than 2000 years old, the entire brooch may also be ancient Greek...but that would be something for an expert to decide. </p><p><br /></p><p>In a couple of weeks I&#039;m going to the UK (I&#039;m based in Amsterdam). I&#039;m going to see if I can get an opinion from somebody at the British Museum in London.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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