Tetras, 357 - 339, Überprägung einer Bronze-Litra Dionysios' I. (vgl. Calciati II S. 86 N 41). S-ILEPAIW-N(retrograd). Androkephaler Stier nach rechts. Rs: Nackter Krieger mit Schild und Speer nach rechts stürmend, im Feld SIL-A. Campana, CNAI "; Calciati III S. 301 Em. 2/9. 6,86g. Fast vorzüglich/sehr schön.
NickA carefully balanced reply is in order. A few things to consider
1. it is not obviously
tooled (as compared with the dozens linked to in the other
forum thread you mention). There are a few specific points I wonder about such as the shadow above the
reverse arm, and the smooth
area with
sharp edges associated with the left hand
leg on the
obverse, and the letter E, but it doesn't jump out
2. there is a very obvious discrepancy between the degree of wear and corrosion and surfaces on the
reverse, and that on the
obverse, leading to the possibility that one
side has been improved and smoothed. Alternately it might be the result of a very damaged
reverse die and/or preferential corrosion from whatever place the coin has been lying these past 2,000 years
3. any association with that seller and that sale is clearly bad and there will always be an element of guilt by association even if the coin looks
fine4. it seems to be a
rare type, at least I could not locate more than one other which is shown below.
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=532662 It would be worthwhile to locate others because a comparison with details would show where differences may have been created by tooling. Look at the two examples carefully. There is no obvious addition of different details on the lower coin - which seems to be from the same dies - and the outer
circle (a key determinant) is of the same shape. But I would guess that the left-hand
leg area of the
bull has been improved, and the
circle better defined at the outside. This might be the result of vigorous cleaning of course. The obv/rev discrepancy is clearer seeing the two coins but without any definite flags. The lettering has not moved position (another key determinant).
Overall I think your coin might count as smoothed in places - which might be considered the result of careful but vigorous cleaning - but not evidently
tooled.
Still, I would be very wary of
buying more bronzes from such a source unless you are prepared and experienced to do the analysis above before bidding on each piece.