After my first (likely failed) attempt at purchasing a genuine ancient Greek coin, I tried again last night. It is a euboea histiaia tetrobol for $60. This time from VCoins - seller Steve Battelle. It has come to my attention that many fakes of these once entered the market and it seems that mine might have some of the attributes that fakes are said to have. I emailed the seller regarding my concern and he said that he purchased it in a lot of other histiaia tetrobols and that this one was different from the rest. He said that he thought it may have been a Celtic issued coin. Are these red flags? Any second opinions would be greatly appreciated. There is still time to cancel the order.
Welcome to the Ancients Forum, @AdamB ! If you purchased from Mr. Battelle you have no reason to question authenticity
I recently bought one of these on eBay. They make me nervous, but this one was so cheap I went for it. In addition to modern counterfeits, they were apparently copied a lot in antiquity - some think by the Romans to pay for their conquests in Macedon. The Wikipedia article for Oreus actually features one like mine (with the crescent under the boat) and says it is a Roman imitation. "Silver tetrobol. This coin is probably a Roman imitation of an Histiaean issue struck in Macedonia during the Roman's military campaign circa 168 BC." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreus Here is a CT thread that is helpful: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/greek-histiaea-euboea-fake-or-for-real.337050/ Here is mine: Euboea, Histiaia Tetrobol (or Roman military imitation) (c. 196-146 B.C.) Head of Maenad right, wearing vine-wreath / [ISTI] AIEWN, Nymph Histaia seated on stern of galley holding stylis (mast with crosspiece). Sear 2496. (1.88 grams / 13 x 12 mm)
You’re doing the right thing. There’s never anything wrong with asking for an opinion on this forum. The dealers on VCoins are trustworthy and they would never knowingly sell you a coin that they will not stand behind as far as authenticity is concerned. Do you have any other ancients?
Not currently. This one is actually meant to be a gift. I ordered an ionia drachm from ebay as seen in my first post. That one also looks questionable so I decided to order this one too. The ionia drachm has not arrived yet but I'm not confident in its authenticity. (That one came from ebay. Bulgaria to be exact...) I very much plan on starting a collection for myself though.
In researching some of the fake coins I just found this: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=16 Which states "All have the wing on the prow, some very poorly executed and none have any symbols below the prow." Mine appears to have some sort of marking below the prow. Thoughts?
If the seller thinks it is possibly struck unofficially but didn’t note that in the sale listing I would return it on principle, authentic ancient or not.
I agree, however at this point I just want it to be genuine. As it's going to be a christmas gift, time is running out...
@AdamB I am extremely worried for you. You sure have tastes and eyes for coins that are particularly highly faked. Ouch. Fortunately you bought from a reliable source this time, and it looks good. Here's mine. These coins were minted for an absurdly long time, which is why they are so plentiful and cheap, and a target for forgers too. I always find it hard to date them, except that it is generally true that the cruder the style the younger it is. By the time the Greeks were fighting for survival against the Romans the styling became rather crude as the need for coinage for the war skyrocketed. Mine is around 140 BC and the crudeness is obvious when compared to earlier issues which are of a desperately pretty and refined style.
Haha very true! At least I'm learning. And that's all very interesting! I know mine is fairly worn but can you tell if it is crude or a more refined example?