I'm getting a bit nervous after posting that Athenian didrachma last week which turned out to be a copy. I am sorry about the clarity of the photos. I am still working on that. I would appreciate any opinions on this one. It is supposed to be a Celtic Danube tetradrachma of Philipp II of Macedonia. It weighs 14.3 grams. Thanks
Can you please post a picture of the edge. The detail looks mushy and looks off. The coin looks like it could be cast. I'm certainly no expert so please wait for more expert opinions.
I'm not fluent with Celtic coins but I do have some observations and questions about this coin. In the images, it looks like there is a "rim" on both sides. Is that the case in hand or is it an artifact of the images? In other words, it looks like the edges are slightly raised at the perimeter on both sides. Celtic coins imitating Greek coins never look right to me style-wise... because they are Celtic-style (duh ). I find it hard to vet the style of Celtic coins because of this. Overall, despite my inexperience with Celtic coins I've seen enough of them and enough cast coins in general to be very suspicious of yours. The legend on the reverse looks mushy or "soapy" (junction with the fields looks "melted"). It's hard to say much about the surfaces in these small images but I think there may be some casting bubbles. Weight doesn't help much because these Celtic imitatives are lighter than the Greek tetradrachms.
I am a bit amazed that so many bad things show in such light photos. I am not saying the coin would look better if darker but we might be able to see it better. Try shooting on a gray background about as dark as the coin or learn to shoot with manual exposure if your camera allows.
idk..it doesn't look like a Celtic Danube to me..not that it positively ain't..but i've had this bronze one for 14 years and up until 2 years ago i didn't really know what it was other than a "barbaric Celtic imitation"...and i STILL cant' see Phillips mug on it very well..
The style is Eastern Celt for certain, but I cant tell from the photo if it is genuine. I looked through Kostial's Kelten im Osten, and while I did not find an exact match it is close to #359 and 365. What I find interesting is what appears to be a hole which has subsequently been filled. Is that the case? Would be unusual to make a fake with such a detail.
I took the coin to the ANA show in Philly today and showed it to eight Ancients dealers and one of the association authenticators and the conclusion was that,at best, possibly it's genuine but the consensus was that it was probably a fairly recently made piece, possibly a jeweler's copy. No one offered to buy it. I asked what made them question the authenticity. What several said was that the mushy rendition of Phillip in an otherwise well stuck piece did not go together and the raised rim on the coin, which is not the sort of thing one usually finds in ancient coins. Thanks to all who responded to my post. Another piece for the "black" cabinet.