Alexander the great fake coin?

[Nicholas M3]

Hi everyone. I am a beginner coin collector and I have just won this alexander the great drachma off of a recent eBay auction and I have grown suspicion that it may be a fake so I haven't confirmed my purchase yet. Since I don't have much experience with ancient coins I would like some help identifying it.

Thanks!
  Niko

[Ron C2]

At best it is a poor condition specimen. I think you should show the obverse and tell us the diameter in mm, weight in grams, and the die orientation.

[Nicholas M3]

Sorry for not showing the obverse here it is

[Nicholas M3]

I am afraid that I do not have the diameter, but I have the weight which is 2,8 grams

[Akropolis]

A drachm should weigh about 4 grams.
On that basis alone, since your photos are a bit unclear, I would say it is not authentic.
If I were you, I would not buy it.
PeteB

[Ron C2]

Next time either know the coin (ie be confident you can authenticate it) or know and trust the seller.

eBay is a minefield, not suitable for beginners.

[Jay GT4]

Are you sure about the weight? 

[Nicholas M3]

its what was on the eBay listing
but I'm not going to buy it, thank you all for your help, you have saved me a great deal of confusion and stress.

-Niko

[Steve Moulding]

Isn't winning an eBay auction somewhat binding? Unless the seller agrees to cancel it seems too late to have doubts now  and decide not to pay. I can't tell if the coin is fake or not.

[esnible]

As others have pointed out, the weight is too low.

I found the auction.  The London-based seller has only 74 feedback but more importantly the seller's feedback is private.  Perhaps the seller isn't proud of what he is doing or doesn't want people looking too closely at his wares.

eBay auction wins are somewhat binding.  You might want to suggest to the seller that the item was misdescribed as being from 336-323 BC but "your friends" say it is modern.  Ask him nicely to cancel the auction.  If he doesn't you might have to pay.

Consider buying coins from places with guarantees ... such as this site that you are on now, asking questions about your eBay finds.

[Kevin D]

I took a quick look through Price 'The coinage in the name of Alexander the Great and Philip Arrhidaeus' and found coins at the end of Volume 1 in the Barbarous section, which might be an indicator for our coin in question:

Price B41 is listed as a drachm at 3.45 grams and has controls somewhat similar to those on our coin in question (I didn't have time to check for a die match, but this coin is pictured in the plates).

Price B42 is listed as a drachm at 2.88 grams but with different controls than our coin here.

The introductory page for this Barbarous section in Price is interesting, stating that these barbarous issues are often light in weight. They were issued by many peoples on the fringe of the Greek world, including the Celts.

Price states that the British Museum contains many examples of these barbarous coins, but he lists only a few in his book.

I don't have a feel for the age of the OP's coin, though the above information suggests the possibility of it being a genuine ancient.

[esnible]

For those who don't have Price handy, the coins Kevin D are discussing are these two

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1928-0120-54
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1982-0919-10

I would like to point out that these specimens in the British Museum don't have bubbles, including a very pronounced one on the nose, that the eBay coin has.  Also, the specimens in the British Museum did not come from eBay private auctions.

I looked at the pictures in the eBay auction, which are not in focus but larger than the photos posted here.  I did not like what I saw.

Kevin, are you suggesting that there exist (somewhere) low-weight ancient imitations?  Or are you suggesting that the coin Nicholas M3 just bought on eBay is an ancient imitation?

[Joe Sermarini]

I think it is very unlikely to be ancient. It looks cast.

[Kevin D]

Kevin, are you suggesting that there exist (somewhere) low-weight ancient imitations?  Or are you suggesting that the coin Nicholas M3 just bought on eBay is an ancient imitation?

Hi Ed,

I should have been more clear. When I wrote that I don't have a feel for the age of the OP's coin, I meant that I can't tell if it is ancient or modern (genuine or fake); the photos are not good enough for my eyes. I listed the coins in Price to show that the weight of the OP's coin is likely not a reason for condemning it, as the style of it looks barbarous and there are genuine ancient barbarous examples with the same weight.

I am away from my previously cited copy of Price at the moment, but want to say that I believe I read that some of these ancient imitations were plated. If you have a copy of the book, there is just the one page of introduction for the Barbarous section, and this is where I would have read about plated imitations.

In any event, that there were plated imitations of these coins appears to be a certainty (Price B42 is plated). The link below is to an article on these, with some photos of ancient plated imitations. Some of these imitations are looking pretty rough.
http://rg.ancients.info/alexander/ancient_imitations.html


On eBay today, with the listing title 'Ancient Greek silver Barbaric imitation drachm coin Alexander Thrace Heracles', there is a drachm of 3.24 grams.