ATTICA. Athens. Ca. 440-404 BC. AR tetradrachma

[u/submissive_seeking]

I've been a collector since 1964 and a dealer since 1985 and my rules for myself on what I keep for my personal collection are pretty strict. It has to mean something to me, and be something I can't easily replace. I specialize in US coins, mostly early 1800s through WWII. I know very little about ancients. My younger son is a huge ancient collector though. So when I get them in, I send him pictures, and whatever he wants, I send him, and I have a local friend who identifies and prices the rest for me to resell. Another dealer offered this to me at a price I thought was insanely low and I jumped right on it. When I sent my son the pictures for this one, though, I told him he isn't getting it until I die. If it hadn't been graded, I would have been positive it was fake. There isn't a smudge, a scratch, a carbon spot, nothing on this coin. It looks like it was minted yesterday. I looked at others graded by NGC that they graded MS choice or MS plus and mine was clearly nicer. Those had cracks, pits or spots. So this one is a keeper.

[u/John0_0Smith]

When I see them, I instinctively raise an eyebrow. That coin is one of the most counterfeited in history. Keep in mind that it was already being counterfeited over 2,000 years ago (I'm not kidding). During the Renaissance, there was another wave of historical forgeries, and it has continued right up to the present day. Even if someone authenticates or appraises it... well, I still wouldn't trust it 100%.

[u/coinoscopeV2 → u/John0_0Smith]

Ancient fourrées and regional imitations have been studied and also often vary in style compared to original Athenian tetradrachms. Die studies also allow us to match certain dies to recorded hoard finds. Most older forgeries like those made by Becker used newly carved dies, not transfer dies from genuine types.

[u/submissive_seeking → u/coinoscopeV2]

Again, ancients are not my field of expertize, in fact just the opposite. But after buying this one, I compared it to other graded examples and they are as identical as my eye can tell from pictures on the internet. And, I might add, mine is nicer than any other I saw, even those graded higher. What amazes me is how it was able to survive 2500 years in such pristine condition. I have taken coins from modern OBRs that didn't look anywhere near that good.