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Author Topic: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great  (Read 1458 times)

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Offline Canaan

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Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« on: August 21, 2017, 04:33:56 pm »
Recenrly i purchased this tetradrachm of Alexander the great that was described by the seller as:
Lead Contemporary Imitation of Alexander III Tetradrachm

Circa 336-323 BC

Obverse: Head of Herakles right

Reverse: Zeus seated eft

Size: 24mm, 9.88g
It was a nice puzzling coin to see but does a thing like this really exists and if yes for what purlose these coins were made!!!!!!
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Offline n.igma

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Re: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2017, 07:23:55 pm »
Probably the lead core of a contemporary counterfeit.

Originally the lead would have been plated with silver to give the impression of an official issue silver tetradrachm.  

As to the reason these exist, its the same as why counterfeit coins and notes exist today.

Counterfeiting started the day after the first coin was produced and in ancient times it was motivated by the arbitrage between the value of  base metals (low value) and precious metals (high value).  Sell lead as silver and you make a tidy margin!
All historical inquiry is contingent and provisional, and our own prejudices will in due course come under scrutiny by our successors.

Offline Canaan

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Re: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2017, 12:50:08 am »
Thanks for the response n.igma, even as a counterfeit i find it very interesting and beautifully made, and a lead coin that stayed more than 2200 years in this condition is even better  :)
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Offline Canaan

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Re: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2017, 05:29:31 am »
I think it is imitating a life time issue of Alexander III as the legs are not crossed!!!!
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Offline Nitesh K

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Re: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2023, 12:18:35 am »
Hello dear collectors , I'm ancient coin dealer from mumbai,India.
I recently came across a lead coin of Alexander the great , from a riverbed lot.
Quite surprising for me. What do u think about this people. Coz it's quite rare to find in hoard of ancient indian coins. Will appreciate everyone's feedback on this

Thank you.

Offline Altamura

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Re: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2023, 02:57:17 am »
... I recently came across a lead coin of Alexander the great , from a riverbed lot. ...
It imitates a tetradrachm minted under Lysimachos: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=10372352

There are such lead pieces (looking differently than the coin here):
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3764349
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2796397
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2560083
but I don't know more about them  :(.

Regards

Altamura

Offline djmacdo

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Re: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2023, 08:28:03 am »
It appears to have been cast.

Offline Din X

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Re: Lead tetradrachm of Alexander the great
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2023, 05:49:06 pm »
I am very sorry but imho the coin from the first post is a forgery from modern hand cut dies.
I have a die match in my fake collection (weight 16,71g), mine seems to be overstruck on another coin, traces are visible on the reverse, which is one of the reasons why I bought it.
I have forgeries with very similar style too, which are likely form same artist and workshop, but I will not confuse members here with pictures of other fakes with this style.
The style is very similar to the forgery F90 in Price of the same type with helmet.

Another one from same dies with wrong weight, 11,06 g was posted here

https://www.numismatikforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=53721&start=1020

 

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