Resources > Fake Coins and Notorious Fake Sellers

Lucania Metapontion: Authenticity Speculation <7/12-Scans Posted>

(1/5) > >>

Dirtfisher:
Ok Folks....

I recently purchased this coin identified as ''ancient greek silver coin; but no weight specification. It is 22mm in diameter. I do not have it in hand, but I am told the bump showing on the rim at 2 o'clock is evidence that it had a mount soldered to it.

I have found similar coins in WW and Coin Archives from Lucania Metapontion.
The portrait is so amazingly beautiful, it just seems it has to be too good to be true. I fear it may be a fake, but I can find no reference to fakes that come close. I would be very interested in any impression this coin gives to those of you with a discerning eye, and anyone else who wants to take a wild guess.

Thanks in advance for your insight!

Dirtfisher

Rupert:
I have once seen an Antinous medallion (sold at DEM 120,000!) in a catalogue (Giessener Münzhandlung sale 76, 1996, 310) that had a hole drilled in the rim below the head in antiquity to allow mounting it standing up and exhibit its beauty. This strange thing, could it also be an ancient hole drilled in the edge to present the coin standing up??? ? We need a close-up of this area.

Rupert

curtislclay:
If the Antinous had holes drilled in the edge at both 12 and 6 o'clock, maybe it was ex Vatican. 
I understand that many Roman medallions in the Vatican collection had been treated that way, so they could be mounted on pins and rotated to inspect both sides, but not easily stolen.
Around 1797 Napolean moved the Vatican coin collection to Paris, where it remains to this day, but during the transport some of the coins were apparently stolen and entered the market.  One of these Vatican coins, a superb silver medallion of Hadrian from Cardinal Albani's collection with holes in the edge at 12 and 6 o'cl., ended up in Berlin:  see Dressel, Berlin Medallions, pp. 19-22.

Dirtfisher:
Unfortunately I will not have the coin in hand for at least a week. Until then, I am trying not to get my hopes too high. I will post high-resolution scans and note exact weight and additional details as soon as I receive it. Thanks for your input!

D.

Rupert:
The Antinous coin had only one edge hole at the bottom, and the patination around it was intact, according to the catalogue; so it was mounted like this in antiquity already.

Rupert

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page