It's wear on the high points which causes this kind of reflection in the photo. I don't think it could be a fourrée
Does it not seem reasonable that a mixture of gold and silver might include places that show more gold and others that show more silver if the preparation of the metals was less than perfect?
No I don't think it's bad metallurgy, silver and gold mix easily. Why not silver with gold plating? It needs the Eureka test for density.
I think it might just be disturbances to the toning/patina in those areas? Perhaps the entire coin was a more pale color when it was new, and the surfaces toned to that lovely golden yellow over the millennia? Those spots are, after all, on the high points of the coin which would be the first places subject to rub or "cabinet friction".
Lets not panic the guy. Early EL was naturally pulled from the ground. I believe that Carthage mixed their EL. Check out Auction listings, and you will see a common theme of Silver showing through on the high spots that gets the circulation wear. Yours is a very nice EL coin. Looks like it was at the bottom of the treasury box with some nice dings and gouges alluding to a really cool history. Personally, I like it. I am not an expert, nor am I purporting any claims to authenticity. Ensure that it is coming from a REPUTABLE Dealer. https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...s=1&thesaurus=1&order=0¤cy=usd&company= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthaginian_coinage Mine: Africa, Zeugutana, Carthage Anonymous (s. BC 310-290) EL Dekadrachm (Stater) 18.5 mm x 7.27 grams Obverse: Wreathed head of Tanit left, eleven pendants on necklace; pellet before neck Reverse: Horse standing right; two pellets below exergue line Ref:Jenkins & Lewis Group V, 259–79; MAA 10; SNG Copenhagen 136
This was exactly my thought. But by all means, I'd do the necessary testing to rule out the possibility of a fourrée or forgery.
Is this cooling fractionating of a gold/silver alloy even pourable? Are their other examples of a Unmixed alloy in EL coinage? I always thought that gold/silver were miscible in all combinations and don't fractionate.
There's a quite deep scuff below tanit's ear so this most probably rules out that it's plated unless the scuff is orchestrated by a forger
Apparently there are Old Style Athenian tets with test cuts that have been plated over! So the practise of using test cuts for validation was invalidated a long time ago.
Ok I come back on this. As I said the whitish spots are at the high points where the coin was rubbed. These Jenkins groups have low gold content and after years may develop reddish toning around the devices. The weight of the coin looks ok. In my past experience with the seller I got an immediate response and refund for a misdescribed object (not coin) in one of their auctions. So I wouldn't worry too much is this turns out to be fake which I don't think it is. Here's one with similar spots
