Tests as silver, weighs 13g. I'd done a little research of my own but cannot find a similar coin, where bust is facing left and the reverse biga is beneath a sun.
I know too many people are quick to condemn coins, but something really smells funny with this coin. The color looks like the color of most reproductions. The center is absolutely perfect in every way, and the strike is spectacular. I am not aware of the issue, but if this is real it is truly the most spectacular one in existence. These facts together just off the cuff lend me to believe its a copy. You said it tests as silver, is the specific gravity correct? Are the no casting marks or file marks on the edges? There is a bee in the field on the obverse. Have you looked at Ephesus or a colony of hers?
I had the same initial impression as you, Medoraman, but knowing that they do exist in such condition ( having searched various auction databases ) i thought it best to check. However, i'm always dubious when i can find a face of one coin similar, and the face of another coin that is similar. It tests fine as silver. I shall take a pic of the edge and post it. Are you 100%, SM ?
First of all I tend to agree as a first impression with this being a modern fake because it is too good to be true but I have been unable to match it and suggest you post this on the Forvm fake section with the pictures since their resource seems to lack it as well. If you did not pay over $5000 for the coin and buy it from a major dealer, it is even more likely to be fake. This is not the sort of thing that shows up just anywhere in 'real'. Second, the coin is not a tetradrachm but a 15 litra or Tridrachm making the weight correct. If you find one that weighs 16-17 grams, that is a fake. Compare to Sear, Greek Coins and their Values #979 where it is illustrated or this one on acsearch: http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=102357 Before someone jumps on me with "Where's the Bee?" note that the acsearch link quotes the minor types of similar coins "SNG ANS 754 var. (bee on obverse); SNG Lloyd 1524 var. (amphora); SNG Lockett 1008 var. (bee)" but I don't own any of the quoted SNG (Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum) volumes so I could not check. The one in Sear is an amphora while the acsearch coin is a bucranium. There could be other minor types besides these three but I certainly am not the one to ask about that in this price bracket. acsearch also has a real dog of a $1000+ coin with tooled fields but I think I see a shadow of the bee which got tooled off when they were dressing up the coin for sale: http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=195179 Please tell the whole story.
Unfortunately I do not have the SNG's Doug lists either or I would post the pics. I do have SNG Copenhagen so I can try to scan 759 if you wish and post it. I ca also scan BMC Sicily pg. 201, 439 tonight as well. I still think with the softness in the higher points and the look of the fields it is cast. A good cast like this they will do a good job of removing the seam, maybe even "toning" it to hide traces of the filing. I would love to see that side. Btw, why would there be a bee on a Syracuse coin? Were they associated with Ephesus, or was that simply their symbol as well? I know a few Greek cities had the same symbol sometimes, but usually same symbols meant something.
We really have no idea what the minor types meant on many coins. There are situations where the code is understood but because the type meant something on one series from one town means nothing elsewhere or even on other issues from that town. For example: a minor type could indicate workshops like the Romans later felt necessary on some of their coins. Perhaps the team leader was from Ephesos? Just as well it could be a code for the source of the silver like the English coins marked LIMA used. Perhaps it is a date device. Rather than asking about the bee, perhaps we need to figure out a link between amphora, bee and cow skull (abc would be more impressive if I had done it in Greek) but there is no reason to believe that the three are linked. Perhaps each was selected by a different official (mint or city). Perhaps the answer is given in a good book from previous centuries but we have not read it. Another link: http://www.snible.org/coins/hn/sicily.html near the bottom under Syracuse - Hicetas, B.C. 288-279. The image is from a plaster cast but it is with the bee.
I'm still inexperienced, but it kinda does look more like casting bubles (around the cheek and behind the eye) rather than pitting.
I was thinking more the fields on the reverse to the left of the star and around the reins. Coins are hard from photos to tell, I just get the impression from the softness, loss of detail that should be there based on its condition, and the color of the metal. Hard to articulate, and condemning a good coin is as bad if not worst that not condemning a bad one. Look at where loss of detail occurs, it is not correlated to where a coin would get worn. Its all over, which is indicative of casting, (or worn die) versus wear. I can post reference photos when I get home. Btw, love the post regardless of what we think of the coin. Anytime you have to really study a coin and think is good, right?
This is one coin that I would be quick to condemn. The style is not in 5th-3rd century BC Syracusan, but in c. AD 2004 Bulgarian.
That's not possible, as the coin was locked in a cabinet for decades. Thanks to all for the replies, and the links are great, Dougsmit
In all seriousness, if you sincerely believe that this coin is genuine there are two courses of action that make sense. 1. Depending on where you live, show it to someone in person. In the UK, call the British Museum Dept of Coins and Medals. In the US, contact a major dealer (CNG, Harlan Berk) that has experience with $5000 coins and see what they say (do they want to sell it for you). 2. Send it off for certification by David Sear. Don't have it slabbed but get a certificate. If either of these tell you it is genuine after seeing it in hand you can decide to sell or keep the coin but most collectors in this price bracket will pay enough more that it will be worth the costs of certification (if any, depending on source). If it has been in a cabinet since before excellent fakes were made, that would be about 200 years.
I have a coin similar to above. I'm new to coins and was wondering if anybody could help me to figure out some stuff about it.
