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Is this Alexander drachm authentic?
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<p>[QUOTE="Orielensis, post: 3527152, member: 96898"]Please excuse this request – I usually don't like to ask for authenticity assessments on CoinTalk, but here is a coin I really don't know what to make of.</p><p><br /></p><p>I recently bought this one cheaply from Savoca London (2nd Blue Auction), thinking it was a Celtic imitation of an Alexander drachm (17mm, 3.7g). In hand, it turns out that it has a monogram and a control mark and thus should be an official postumous issue from Abydus (301–297 BC, Price 1579, see<a href="http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.1579?lang=de" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.1579?lang=de" rel="nofollow"> here</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p>My best guess is that the reverse saw some wear, possibly was weakly struck to begin with, likely was covered with horn silver when it was found, and received harsh chemical cleaning. The whole coin might have been polished a bit afterwards, resulting in the shiny surfaces.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since I already have an official postumous Alexander drachm in a higher grade, I tried to sell it for what I paid here on CT. The (very friendly and sensible) buyer apparently asked some other collectors about the coin and showed them my picture. They had doubts about the coin's authenticity, and I of course offered to refund our fellow collector.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, this has made me wonder about this coin myself. What do you think? Does it look like a forgery that has slipped through in Savoca’s auction? If so, I’ll write them a polite e-mail and the coin will go into my “black cabinet”...</p><p><br /></p><p>My picture: [ATTACH=full]937459[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Savoca's picture:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]937458[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Orielensis, post: 3527152, member: 96898"]Please excuse this request – I usually don't like to ask for authenticity assessments on CoinTalk, but here is a coin I really don't know what to make of. I recently bought this one cheaply from Savoca London (2nd Blue Auction), thinking it was a Celtic imitation of an Alexander drachm (17mm, 3.7g). In hand, it turns out that it has a monogram and a control mark and thus should be an official postumous issue from Abydus (301–297 BC, Price 1579, see[URL='http://numismatics.org/pella/id/price.1579?lang=de'] here[/URL]). My best guess is that the reverse saw some wear, possibly was weakly struck to begin with, likely was covered with horn silver when it was found, and received harsh chemical cleaning. The whole coin might have been polished a bit afterwards, resulting in the shiny surfaces. Since I already have an official postumous Alexander drachm in a higher grade, I tried to sell it for what I paid here on CT. The (very friendly and sensible) buyer apparently asked some other collectors about the coin and showed them my picture. They had doubts about the coin's authenticity, and I of course offered to refund our fellow collector. Now, this has made me wonder about this coin myself. What do you think? Does it look like a forgery that has slipped through in Savoca’s auction? If so, I’ll write them a polite e-mail and the coin will go into my “black cabinet”... My picture: [ATTACH=full]937459[/ATTACH] Savoca's picture: [ATTACH=full]937458[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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Is this Alexander drachm authentic?
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