Pontika - How does one know ???

[Marsha]

I know that this drachm of Apollonia Pontika originated from a large reputable auction house.   A check of the listed fakes does not include this coin.  Is there a good way to tell the authenticity?

Marsha

[Joe Sermarini]

If it came from a large reputable auction house and you have no reason to suspect it, don't post it here for opinions.  Buying from a reputable source is a good way to tell the authenticity.  Reputable sellers use experts to authenticate coins.  Experts are necessary because there is no good easy way to tell the authenticity.   

[magnusmaximus]

“”””Experts”””” how you will know who is the expert you can trust?
There are so many experts!
[Name removed by Admin] is a expert with a published books on forgery but can you trust him??

[awl]

You trust the experts on their expertises (how many coins they dealt with, their background in numismatics and their overall knowledge...) Auction houses make sure they hire the best since they know if they begin to make mistakes, their reputation is at stake.

[magnusmaximus]

Awl, this is funy: <<how many coins they dealt with, their background in numismatics and their overall knowledge.>>

Just a simple question, how you will know with how many coins they dealt with it and what is their overall knowledge?
There are so many experts here on the internet that say they know it all.

[Joe Sermarini]

Is there any coin that you MUST buy, no matter who is selling it?  If not, buying can be a lot easier.  There are reputable dealers and auction houses, unknown dealer websites, unknown eBay sellers and known frauds.  If you don't know if a dealer or auction house is reputable, assume they are not.  Don't buy from firms or people you don't feel you can trust.   

Here on the discussion board it is easy to see who the experts are.  They are awarded the title Procurator Monetae and it is included on their posts. 

[slokind]

One reason we all should study Latin is to understand what derivative words like 'expert' actually mean when used otherwise than with awe or a sneer (which are two sides of the same coin, so to speak).  There are, of course, such persons as self-proclaimed experts (often more to be pitied than censured, they have such severe and painful "issues"), but intelligent persons who devote themselves day in and day out to studying coins and their metals and techniques acquire the experience (just counting money won't give it to you) that makes them experts, provided only that they have self-knowledge enough to retire if, say, they are 90 and have cataracts or glaucoma.  These experts aren't 'proving themselves' at the expense of numismatics; they only know a great deal by experience and are willing to share their experience for the sake of the discipline, numismatics.
I myself do not have experience in those Apollonia Pontica gorgoneia, and I have never had Marsha's coin in hand.  I admit that I see nothing wrong with it (it certainly looks like good silver, but...).
But Marsha, if you like it and it's not expensive, get it.  That's what I did, and just to show that a Procurator Monetae can be uncerrtain, too, here is the one I got.  Years ago.  I'd need to study a lot of them to be an expert on these, and not study them with any axe to grind.
Pat L.
• 10 III 00 AR drachm.  Apollonia Pontika, colony of Miletos.  Obv. Gorgoneion.  Rev. Anchor, crayfish, and A.
NOTA BENE: Considering when and where this coin was purchased, it has at best a 50:50 chance of being genuine, even though it does not positively match one of the dies (not all of them are there) at: http://rg.cointalk.org/bulgarian_school/forgeries.html
My 7-year-old link no longer works, and I now see that the anchor is the obverse!

[Robert_Brenchley]

The good sources guarantee authenticity and honour that guarantee (unlike, say, a fly-by-night eBay fraudster). If you're around the discussion groups, you soon find out who the main ones are, or you could post a query on one of the Yahoo goups if you're not sure.