INDO-GREEK MENANDER DRACHM

[Lech Stępniewski]

Over month ago I have won on eBay nice and not expensive Menander’s drachm from pakphil63. See:

[link removed by ADMIN]

But during exchanging emails about payment (it wasn’t very smooth - seller claims that he haven’t got my emails and I must correspond through eBay post) I saw that seller put on auction another Menander’s drachm and I asked him, why he is selling my coin because photos seems to be identical. See:

[link removed by ADMIN]

He replied: „I am selling a similar coin on e-bay and I have kept your coin packed, ready to be shipped as soon as I recieve your payment". When I wrote that the coins are not similar but almost identical he said: „The two coins you mentioned are not identical and are similar in some details since they were minted in the same place. I have 10 similar coins with minor differences, in my collection, which were minted from different places."

For me it is impossible that two ancient coins have identical flans and wearings and preserve the same condition in such small details, even if they were minted in the same place. So I didn’t pay for the coin and now I have first eBay Non-Paying Bidder Warning. And what do you think about this situation? Am I right or am I to suspicious?

Here is the picture of the first coin which I have won:

[Lech Stępniewski]

Picture from the second auction - "similar coin"

[seraphic]

The pictures are indentical. If what he said is true then he somehow managed to scan the second coin exactly the same way as the first which is highly unlikely. He is lying through his teeth. Due to the fact that he has several of these coins, he can see no reason to scan each individual coin. Instead he is using the same single scan over and over. When you get your coin, study it extremely well. If you are not happy with it or it obviously isn't the coin advertised then demand your money back.

Gary

[Lech Stępniewski]

Well, Gary, it was my very first thought: he is lazy and he uses one photo for all coins. But the photos are not absolutely identical! Look and compare. There are slight differences which suggest that the source of light was not the same in both cases. The first photo is more bright at all (but not in every part of coin!). Of course it is possible to get the same effect during computer edition. But why? It is more time consuming than making simply two photos.

[curtislclay]

      It does indeed look like different photos of two coins sharing the same dies and all the same accidental features, at least one of which, probably both, are reproductions!
      If the owner were simply lazy and using the image of your coin to sell a second slightly different one, surely he would have admitted this in order to defuse your suspicions!
      So I think you are justified to refuse the coin, but don't know how to straighten out matters with eBay.