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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3342542, member: 19463&quot;]It really hurts to see so many new posters to this group showing coins that are the worst level of tourist fakes but it is getting to the point tat it would be unusual to see a first post from someone that showed a real owl.&nbsp; We often say that we can NEVER say a coin is genuine based solely on a photo but it is often very possible to say that a coin is a fake.&nbsp; The style and fabric is not even close to anything made in Athens or the other ancient cities that copied there types.&nbsp; It is not &#039;maybe&#039; a fake.&nbsp; It is a fake. </p><p><br /></p><p>A scale that reads only to whole grams is not recommended for coin use.&nbsp; eBay sells cheap .01g models for low prices.&nbsp; Buy one.&nbsp; While the tetradrachm of Athens should weigh 17g they also made a single drachm that is 1/4 the size of a tetra(Greek for 4)drachm which is a lot closer to the 5g item but this is not one of those either.&nbsp; Athens made this general style coin for a couple centuries and the specifics of style changed quite a bit during that time.&nbsp; Collectors wit even a little interest in the subject learn to distinguish the general groups of these.&nbsp; Specialists learn to recognize a few dozen variations and desire to own them all.&nbsp; The fact that your coin is not an exact match for any <u>one</u> coin is not a sign it is fake but the fact that it bears no resemblance to any of them most certainly is a problem. I am not a specialist in these. I own very few.&nbsp; I hope you will decide to buy another ancient soon but, this time, patronize a specialist dealer in ancient coins who serves beginning collectors and can provide a coin of which you can be happy for many years to come.</p><p><br /></p><p>A single drachm (my only one and not a nice one):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]885104[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>A Classical period 5th century BC tetradrachm:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]885105[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>A 4th century tetradrachm with a small testcut to be sure the coin was solid silver:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]885108[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This 5th century tetradrachm was test cut and revealed a copper core.&nbsp; This explains why so many of these coins are seen with test cuts.&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]885109[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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