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Greece "Owl" Tetradrachm, is this genuine?

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mdelvalle:
Hola

What do you think about this?

Gracias
Mario

rick fox:
There also appear to be casting bubbles in Athena's (???) cheek.

Howard Cole:
First off, the style is not off.  This is suppose to be a coin of the Sabaeans imitating an Athenian tetradrachm.  Yes, it is a fake because of the soft details (an lack of certain details like the owls body!).  It also has casting bubbles as Rick has pointed out.  It is really a very poorly made cast.

AlexB:
Hi

Howard, though similar, its not from the Sabaeans. It is a satrapal coin from the Persian Sabakes of Egypt c.340BC. I have a (real) one here:

http://www.ancients.info/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2719

The reverse is quite convincing, the style is absolutely right. The test mark also typical. The condition of these coins is always poor. It is possible that the coin was heavily pitted and then polished. Then again, the obverse does look weak, the helmet design strangely modern, and it would be normal to copy certain features to pass it off.

All in all, whats the weight and where you get it and in what circumstances?

All the best

Alex

Howard Cole:
Thanks for the correction.  But the lower part of the owl's body is still missing. Most likely that part was not taken up by the mold when it was made to make the  casting.  If it was die struck, it should still appear since this would be the highest part of the die and sink the deepest into the flan.

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