Identify a Coin

BigCon

Supposedly an ancient greek coin. My brother got it for me in Greece.
There's a cert of guarantee with it saying it's Appolon on one side (the head) and Zeus on the other in the form of a bird from 230-240 BC.
Can anyone confirm this?
How would I know if it's a fake?

All help appreciated...

dermo88

That screams fake,

The coin is far too clear for something that was in regular circulation for at least a century, 2,300 years ago.

The wear and tear are clearly artificial, its not evenly worn, which you'd expect from a soft metal silver coin.

The Engraving of the die used on the "Bird" side of the coin is too crisp. The ability to produce coins of that clarity did not exist until the 1600's. I refer specifically to the feathers. Plus, the diemaker would make both sides of the coin, so the style would be the same on both sides in each specific city state (Corinth, Sparta, Athens, Salonika, Macedonia, etc).

Judging by the inscription, T***YO***EOKIHVA (rough approximation of greek alphabet, I don't have the coptic font here), I'd hazard a guess at it being a forged Thessalonian drachma. How much does it weigh?

Get yourself down to Brian in Georges Street Arcade, or go to Stephens Green, you may get help and guidance there, but if that coins genuine, I would be quite surprised. I'd give it a 20% chance that it is, and if so, then they had bloody good die-makers back then.

BigCon

I know, it does seem too "nice" to be genuine
I'll drop into Georges Street Arcade next time I'm in the big schmoke...

Bet you're wrong though

Siogfinsceal

either way its very pretty!

Maccattack

How much was it?

BigCon

I don't know, he got it as a present for me - I'm guessing £50 - £100 back in 1996 (I'm guaranteed that it's 9 years old at least ).

Here's the guarantee cert that came with it - I've googled the Victoria Gallery hoping that it was a world renowned centre for coins - no such luck, can't find anything on them...

Blade

The Coin fair is on ATM in the RDS. The last day is tomorrow Sunday, if you get down there and go to the spinks stand or the stand for Feb. auction, they'll tell you in seconds if it's real or not. It's always better to have the coin in hand to judge if it's fake.

If you can't make it to the RDS tomorrow, post your pictures here, the guys here are well up on forgeries:
Fake Ancient Coin Reports and Discussion
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?board=9.0

BigCon

Cheers Blade, that's an excellent site. Just going to post there now...