Greek coin ? fake ?

Siggi Palma

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Hey everyone,

This coin belongs to my girlfriends father. He pulled this up to show me and asked if I knew anything about it. I saw that it was greek but anything else I have no idea. Found in spain in the 90´s he was walking in a small town and saw this laying in the sand. I think fake but what strikes me is how hard the sand is on the coin. Well if anyone has any idea and even its a fake what´s it faking :)

Siggi

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I have to admit to being really light when it comes to Greek bronzes, but this would be my take on the coin:

Obverse: Crude Astarte, pomegranite diadem.

Reverse: Crude man with club holding representive of captive or laurel wreath. Lettering is not archaic nor classic Greek, most resembles Cypriot but not 100%, Indo-Greek coinage bears a strong likeness. Layout is classic 3rd C bc and later.

So.....

Given I have not seen a Greek period coin of man with club, I am given to think Roman period, Greek language area. The Romans whacked so many in the Greek world, it is a reasonable reverse. I can not match what should be the locality nor ruler name, no surprise there - the script, if real, is not in my archaeological materials but could be based on Greek with some local features.

For now, I would call it a Roman era forgery, perhaps pre 3th century.

but that is just guessing.....
 
Burien do you know how hard it is to read that post at 7:30 in the morning drinking your first cup of coffie :lol: I was crosseyed :lol::lol:

But after the second cup I came back and understand everything. Funny how a second languege can sometimes be hard to figure out :lol:

Thanks for all that info, I googled alot yesterday and found some coins that looked like the reserve but nothing like the front.

Thanks again Burien :)

Siggi
 
In the coin trade, this is called a "tourist fake", meaning it's a modern forgery sold to tourists, sometimes being represented to the less-informed as genuine, but not considered "dangerous", because almost all collectors of ancient coins could spot it immediately.

-- Tom

P.S. I have one that I bought on eBay, thinking it might be a new type, but it was just a poorly photographed cast copper/bronze/dark base metal reproduction of a tetradrachm. However, I do learn from my mistakes, and there was at least one other collector bidding against me who didn't know any better either. :)
 
Followup: It's a reporduction of a relatively common coin from Thasos.

I don't remember what the word on the right is, but the left is SOTEROS, and the bottom is THASION (that initial O is actually a theta, but the dot in the middle is sort of blurred out in the casting).

-- Tom
 
Thank you Tom for that information :)

I had a feeling it was a fake but if you dont knwo for sure make sure :)

Siggi
 
In the coin trade, this is called a "tourist fake", meaning it's a modern forgery sold to tourists, sometimes being represented to the less-informed as genuine, but not considered "dangerous", because almost all collectors of ancient coins could spot it immediately.

-- Tom

P.S. I have one that I bought on eBay, thinking it might be a new type, but it was just a poorly photographed cast copper/bronze/dark base metal reproduction of a tetradrachm. However, I do learn from my mistakes, and there was at least one other collector bidding against me who didn't know any better either. :)


What gives it away as being a fake?
 
What gives it away as being a fake?

The big giveaway is that this coin type is silver (a tetradrachm), and this is made of base metal. Also, it was sand-cast, leaving lots of pits all over it. Details, like the missing dot in the middle of the theta, were lost in casting.

If you've seen enough genuine examples, this one just doesn't compare favorably.

-- Tom
 
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