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Does the patina immediately tell you this is a fake ancient coin?
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Started by imperatorcoaticus97,

14 posts in this topic

imperatorcoaticus97

imperatorcoaticus97

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It’s supposedly from around 172-145 B.C. & a Greco-Bactrian coin of Eucratides I and I’ve been told it's fake and from what I've read it's a seemingly correct diagnosis, just wanted another opinion and was wondering if by the look of it alone you can tell it's fake 

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2945996B-FB57-4DB5-8EA8-5C65BCF03750.jpeg

Edited by imperatorcoaticus97
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Mohawk

Mohawk

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Hi Andrew!!!

I'd say it is a fake and the patina is a part of it.  It also doesn't look like it's made of silver to me.  Overall, what I think is that it's a tourist coin.  In countries like Italy, Greece and Turkey, which were centers of ancient civilizations, people often make fakes of actual ancient coins in metals like pewter or other base metal alloys and give them patinas through chemical means, to sell to tourists as cheap souvenirs of their visit.  There are a lot of these out there.  My parents lived in Turkey for four years before I was born and every major tourist site they went to had at least one person selling tourist coins.  Thankfully, they didn't buy any, but some of the other expats they knew bought many of them.  Your coin has the classic look of a tourist coin, at least to me.

I hope that this is of some help, my friend.

~Tom

Edited by Mohawk
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imperatorcoaticus97

imperatorcoaticus97

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On 10/7/2021 at 2:03 PM, Mohawk said:

Hi Andrew!!!

I'd say it is a fake and the patina is a part of it.  It also doesn't look like it's made of silver to me.  Overall, what I think is that it's a tourist coin.  In countries like Italy, Greece and Turkey, which were centers of ancient civilizations, people often make fakes of actual ancient coins in metals like pewter or other base metal alloys and given patinas through chemical means, to sell to tourists as cheap souvenirs of their visit.  There are a lot of these out there.  My parents lived in Turkey for four years before I was born and every major tourist site they went to had at least one person selling tourist coins.  Thankfully, they didn't buy any, but some of the other expats they knew bought many of them.  Your coin has the classic look of a tourist coin, at least to me.

I hope that this is of some help, my friend.

~Tom

I cry 🥲 it would have been absolute steal if it was real! Lmao, thanks Tom.

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Mohawk

Mohawk

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On 10/7/2021 at 3:05 PM, imperatorcoaticus97 said:

I cry 🥲 it would have been absolute steal if it was real! Lmao, thanks Tom.

No problem Andrew.  I'm sorry the news wasn't better.  If it's any consolation, it's a heartbreaker for me, too.  An actual Greco-Bactrian coin in that condition would be a real treasure that I would love to see, even if it's only in pictures

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imperatorcoaticus97

imperatorcoaticus97

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On 10/7/2021 at 2:07 PM, Mohawk said:

No problem Andrew.  I'm sorry the news wasn't better.  If it's any consolation, it's a heartbreaker for me, too.  An actual Greco-Bactrian coin in that condition would be a real treasure that I would love to see, even if it's only in pictures

Right? Luckily to replace that place in my heart a 3rd century BC NGC Slabbed Celtic imitation of the Chios mint, of Alexander III’s AR Drachm’s is inbound. Actually kind of filling two places in my heart Celtic & Greek history at the same time 😎

Edited by imperatorcoaticus97
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Mohawk

Mohawk

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On 10/7/2021 at 3:13 PM, imperatorcoaticus97 said:

Right? Luckily to replace that place in my heart a 3rd century BC NGC Slabbed Celtic imitation of the Chios mint, of Alexander III’s AR Drachm’s is inbound. Actually kind of filling two places in my heart Celtic & Greek history at the same time 😎

Very nice!!!! What a cool piece....do you have any pics?  If so, I'd love to take a look at that......and I'm certain I'm not the only one who would like to see it.

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Mohawk

Mohawk

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That's a real beauty and a real treasure.  You should be very proud of that piece.....it's gorgeous and an amazing piece of history!!  It beats my oldest coin in age considerably (my oldest is an As of Caligula).  Thanks for sharing that with us!!!

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imperatorcoaticus97

imperatorcoaticus97

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On 10/7/2021 at 4:06 PM, Mohawk said:

That's a real beauty and a real treasure.  You should be very proud of that piece.....it's gorgeous and an amazing piece of history!!  It beats my oldest coin in age considerably (my oldest is an As of Caligula).  Thanks for sharing that with us!!!

man the things I’d do to get my hands a Caligula coin no matter denomination.. Now that I think about it I haven’t seen a single coin of Caligula for sale (though I'm definitely not looking everywhere)..one day hopefully!! Little boots gets a bad rap IMO 

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Mohawk

Mohawk

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On 10/7/2021 at 6:57 PM, imperatorcoaticus97 said:

man the things I’d do to get my hands a Caligula coin no matter denomination.. Now that I think about it I haven’t seen a single coin of Caligula for sale (though I'm definitely not looking everywhere)..one day hopefully!! Little boots gets a bad rap IMO 

Little Boots does indeed get a bad rap.  Caligula coins are scarce, partially due to the relatively poor economic conditions during his short reign and more so due to Nero's debasement of the denarius during his reign, which led to the melting of a lot of the earlier coinage.  There goes Nero ruining things again, like he ruined the lyre, poetry, parties at the palace, Sporus' life and the Olympics.  The Caligula I have is the Vesta As, which is his most common type, but it's still a Caligula coin nonetheless.  VCoins, which is a place I buy a lot of my coins from, has some Caligulas for sale right now.  I'm hoping this link takes you right to the Caligula page:

https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.aspx?search=true&searchQuery=Caligula&searchQueryExclude=&searchCategory=0&searchCategoryLevel=2&searchCategoryAncient=True&searchCategoryUs=True&searchCategoryWorld=True&searchCategoryMedieval=False&searchBetween=0&searchBetweenAnd=0&searchDate=&searchUseThesaurus=True&searchDisplayCurrency=&searchDisplay=1&searchIdStore=0&searchQueryAnyWords=&searchExactPhrase=&searchTitleAndDescription=True&searchDateType=0&searchMaxRecords=100&SearchOnSale=False&Unassigned=False

My Vesta As has a nice green patina but it's a little rough.  It only cost me $299.00, which for a Caligula is a pretty good deal.  I couldn't pass it up,

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Mohawk

Mohawk

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On 10/7/2021 at 8:26 PM, imperatorcoaticus97 said:

Dude I think I’m gonna pull the trigger on one thank you. It took me right to coins of his era

Awesome!!! Make sure you share it with us when you get it......I'm always game to take a gander at a good Caligula (thumbsu

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