A local fellow offered to sell me a gold "stater" coin for a little over gold melt. He already offered to a local shop owner who was not interested as he could not authenticate it, or even know for sure it had much gold in it. Is there any way to handle a deal like this without losing money? I have thought of giving him a $200 deposit, with the understanding that I would send it to NGC on the express tier to get it slabbed, pay that expense myself, and if it were authenticated, I would pay an additional $200. Is this a winning or losing proposition?
If it is a true gold stater, (a stater being a eastern Greek denomination), then it is worth way above what melt would be. If it is authentic then of course it is a no brainer. The key really is authenticity. Is there an ancient dealer nearby? I do not think you need it slabbed necessarily, just authenticated. Chris
I spoke with someone at Spectrum who said it could be worth between $500 and $500K. It is about a quarter oz.
I'm sure you've heard the old saying, If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. You referred to the seller as a "local fellow" so I gather that he is not a close friend. Why don't you suggest that he pay to have it authenticated, and if it is legit, you will pay the fee in addition to the agreed upon price. If he balks at this, then I would pass. Chris
It would be better if he were to get it slabbed, IMO. Then just added the fee on to what ever he was asking for it.
Is there any way to handle a deal like this without losing money? Yes Walk away from it. It smells real bad. A real gold stater is worth thousands of dollars.
Exactly. Whenever someone is willing to sell you something for a small fraction of its value, the item tends to be fake or stolen. Which do you want to get involved with? If I had a coin of such a type, I would offer it to one of a very few dealers who could sell it for full value. If it makes them laugh at you, you'll know it is a fake.
Good advice Owle. I wouldn't give the man any money up front before it's been authenticated. Posting a picture would help a lot. Bruce
i have a few staters from different celtic tribes in britain, i have paid an average of £700 per coin so i would be extremely wary of this coin, are there any letters on the coin like WRL if so it is a copy made by the westair company for sale at different historical sites in britain. if you can get a photo of the coin i will identify it for you as i am a celtic coin fanatic.http://www.westair-reproductions.com
I spoke with the fellow again yesterday. I'm not sure it meets the definition of a Stater. He said it was from around 300 AD, which would be Roman, Byzantine?, not Greek. He got it from "Bill", from Portchester, NY, who used to run the Danbury show. I may hear back from "Bill" to give me some background. I took a quick peek at it when the guy was in a local coin shop with it. It looked thoroughly worn.
Thanks for the feedback. The guy lives a half hour away and I don't have a digital camera nor the other hardware to post pictures.
It would be a Roman follis[edit: I meant solidus] most likely. Byzantine are more common than Roman, but Roman are available. What was the weight? Most ancient gold coins are not very heavy, and would not contain $400 worth of gold.
It weighs over 8 grams, which is about a quarter ounce. I offered him around spot price, but of course that is if it were real. All contracts are conditioned by honesty on both sides of the deal. Fraud nullifies any contract.
Follis is a bronze coin. The 300 AD Roman gold coin was still the aureus and there were multiples so a big coin is possible. In 309 AD the new common denomination was issued (the solidus) but it is only a bit lighter. None of these gold coins are likely to turn up in these circumstances and all would be worth more than melt if holed or otherwise damaged. Fakes are not scarce but most of them are not actually gold. There is plenty of gold available out there for making necklaces without dipping int the 1700 year old stuff. More likely what we have here is a brightly cleaned copper/bronze follis that has a bit of a yellow color and is being called 'gold' by people who do not know what gold looks like. Until a photo is produced, this has to be the assumption. A polished follis is worth something on the order of 50 cents. Around 300 AD, folles were generally between 7 and 10g of debased billon (mostly copper) so 8g is reasonable.
Over 8 grams and 300AD I simply do not know what it is. I do not recall any Roman gold that heavy. Without a pic I simply am not picturing what coin he is talking about. 300 bc makes more sense for an 8 gram gold ancient coin. Chris
The coin shop which received it originally and rejected it becaus to test it for gold might damage the numismatic value.
Of course I mispoke, (typed), I meant solidus, maybe aureus if before Constantine. 8 grams is just way too heavy for Roman gold. An orichalcum coin is very possible. Orichalcum is ancient brass which if overcleaned is frequently confused with gold. Roman gold is pretty easy to tell the difference in type than a brass or bronze coin. They used completely different styles. Chris
