Good morning! I recently won this in an auction from what I thought was one of the most trusted ebay sellers around, frascatius. I found him on multiple ' best ebay coin dealers lists' online as well as found some people online who vouched for him on a personal level. I had also bought from him once before on a lower value item and was satisfied. Not to mention he has been on ebay for over 20 years with near perfect feedback. So I felt pretty safe and bid on this sinope drachm, I know I spent more than it was worth, but I really wanted this coin. I lost an auction for one of these before and couldn't stop kicking myself so I went all out and after all was said and done spent $350 CAD. The little nymph was so cute, all the lettering was visible and centered... and I just couldn't resist. Obviously the only problem was gigantic test cut, but at first I thought thats just an extra piece of history. So I got the coin and I loved it, other than the fact that the test cut made it a little more warped than was visible in the picture but no big deal. I shared it online with some people and a number expressed concern to me over authenticity. Some people were saying the test cut looked modern ( why make a fake test cut????), and others said some facial features didn't match similar specimens and stuff like that. Some of them seemed like they were fairly knowledgeable. I sent the seller a message and he was quick to respond and seems quite confident its legitimate. he says he bought it from cng auctions. I dont know if thats the truth but I lean on believing him, since you dont generally run a successful business for 20 years with a near perfect reputation from lying. So... sorry for the novel... TLDR: I just want some more opinions on whether or not this piece is genuine. I know that nobody can say for sure, but your best evidence based guess would be greatly appreciated... so I know whether to return it or not. Thank you!! The seller: https://www.ebay.ca/usr/frascatius?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
See CNG listing (click link) for the lot of 31 coins that this coin most likely comes from (all with test cuts).
Oh good! So sounds like I can rest assured its genuine? Even if I overpaid? ( but come on, mine was clearly one of the nicer ones right ) Thanks I really appreciate it!
I have purchased coins from Frascatius several times and think of this seller as one of the better on Ebay.
I'm definitely not an expert in this area, but the style looks different from all the other Sinope drachms (including the CNG group mentioned above), if you do a search. There are some barbarous-looking examples out there, but the style and surfaces on your coin are too flawless IMHO. I could also see faking a test cut if this is something commonly encountered with these coins... it casts doubt in people's minds (as expressed previously in this thread) that the coin could be a fake. That being said, a search on the Fake Coin Reports in Forum didn't turn up anything, so it may be premature to label it a fake.
'Some people' will tell you any coin is a fake. Don't listen to them. If you don't trust Frascatius (I do) or CNG, send it to NGC or David Sear but 'some people' will tell you they don't guarantee authenticity (so the coin is definitely fake?). IMO the price is more than I would have considered but paying too much is not cause to return a coin. Again, IMO, I paid to much ($100) in 1990 when I got mine from Amphora. Coins in this grade have not doubled in the last 30 years while spectacular coins may have increased 10X. This issue often/usually is cut. Yours is much nicer than mine. The decision is yours.
..he is one of the 1st peeps i bought from back in '04...i'd vouch for'em...(altho idk 'bout that particular coin...return it if you don't feel safe)
Frascatius is a legit eBay seller. That stated, even (self-proclaimed)experts in the field are duped on occasion. Nonetheless, nothing about the coin itself screams “fake”. Fortunately, the test cut’s placement doesn’t obscure too much of the nicer elements of the devices.