I purchased this coin few years ago from a reputable dealer but I showed it to a friend who is expert in Persian coins and he casted some doubt. His reasoning was the bow at the hand of the king/hero is very weak compared to the other parts of the coin which is sharp and also the surface that has some tiny bubbles. What do you think of this coin?
I'm no expert like your friend, but from the image above, I would be fooled into thinking this is a good example. I checked the fake databases and found no match. You didn't mention weight. If it's within tolerance, I think I might question your friends expertise. However, if your friend has planted a seed of doubt, you will always wonder unless you have an independent expert examine it.
I see nothing suspicious about that coin. Style looks good, surfaces look good (maybe some corrosion/porosity), and the bow could just be a product of a weak uneven strike (it happens with hand-struck coins.) If that's a fake it definitely would have fooled me too.
Looks perfectly genuine. I see no bubbles, but he may have been mistaking them for the obvious corrosion and porosity on the surfaces. I see nothing wrong with the style.
The reverse punch is rather off center but I can't tell if it is shown 12H or 6H axis. If inverted you can see a lot of metal that did not get struck which might explain the weakness of the strike on the bow. The coin is more commonly found struck on an oval flan with the upright diameter the greater rather than crosswise as here. This is not a concern when it comes to authenticity but the coin would be struck better if they had lined up the punch, the die and the flan all in the same orientation. You have a weak trace of the bow (compare below) which is not a strong point of the coin but you also have a crown on flan which most certainly is. These are common coins but examples well centered and well struck with all the parts clear are not as common as we would like. Overall, I'd call yours a nice coin.
When it comes to Persian coins how much of an expert is your friend? Did he handle your coin and examine it in person? Are you willing to favor the armchair opinions of internet coin fans who are looking at a photo on a computer screen or a phone over someone who has actually handled the coin? If so, seems dicey to me.
Doug made a good point. To repeat, if 3:00 on the obverse photo is opposite 3:00 on the reverse photo, it is easy to see why the bow is not well struck. The punch die was not pushing it into the obverse die there.
Thanks All for input. @dougsmit Good point! I need to check the coin it is in a Bank deposit box with rest of my coins so I don't have access now to verify this. I will post the position of reverse and obverse once I check the deposit box next time. To be fair the expert did not say outright it is fake! He just mention he is suspect and need to see the coin in hand but unfortunately he is in a different country and it is not possible to have him inspect the coin in hand. By the way, I purchased this from Leu auction so I hope they had a good expertise as they had the coin in hand. Do you guys think its necessary to send this to NGC? I prefer to save the cost of submission and shipping if the coin is most likely authentic.
Personaly, I don't think there is a need. But like I said in a previous post, if you have doubt now, you will always have doubt unless you send it off to NGC or Sear.
And here is mine. I always hated it, because after I won it in a catawiki auction it turned out to be a contemporary fourrée. The (reputable) seller didn't want to take it back, only exchange it for a coin with the same price in his rather expensive shop listings. The weight is too low, 3.7g whereas it should be 5.2-5.6g. Naturally, I never bought a coin from him again. But it was the first coin I posted on CoinTalk (more than three years ago) and met an enthusiastic public because of the design on the King's shirt. Thanks for the comforting words, group!
