✅ SOLVED Coin.....Modern Copy or Fantasy Piece? Updated Pics!

[Retired Sarge]

My son just found this in a parking lot between Panama City and Destin Florida. He just sent these two quick pictures.

I'm assuming it's a modern copy or fantasy piece for jewelry/tourist use, but you never know.

Tried finding an example of the archer online with no luck thus far. Just to see what it might be a copy of.

 

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[villagenut]

Looks old to me...

 

[Retired Sarge]

Looks like it might read Antoninus Pius on the right side of the bust, but I'm not finding an example with an archer on it.

 

[Red-Coat]

Looks like it might read Antoninus Pius on the right side of the bust, but I'm not finding an example with an archer on it.

Yep, it looks like it either is, or is modelled on a Tetradrachm of Antoninus Pius. So, Roman coinage but a provincial issue in local currency units from the Greek-speaking part of the empire. This one is stylistically similar and struck in Alexandria, Egypt between AD 141-142. The reverse is “Artemis advancing right, holding bow and drawing arrow from quiver”.



Weight 12g; diameter 22mm. Other weights/sizes will relate to different multiples of the drachm. Provincial issues are often cruder and harder to track down, and aren’t necessarily from Egypt. It might be genuine, but it looks more like a copy made for sale to tourists in Egypt and has the appearance of having been soldered to something at one time (as modern jewellery?). Copies are commonly cast in silver from genuine coins, so weight/diameter isn't a reliable indicator for authenticity.

The genuine example I showed above sold for 81 euros ($88).

 

[Retired Sarge]

Yep, it looks like it either is, or is modelled on a Tetradrachm of Antoninus Pius. So, Roman coinage but a provincial issue in local currency units from the Greek-speaking part of the empire. This one is stylistically similar and struck in Alexandria, Egypt between AD 141-142. The reverse is “Artemis advancing right, holding bow and drawing arrow from quiver”.

View attachment 2077696

Weight 12g; diameter 22mm. Other weights/sizes will relate to different multiples of the drachm. Provincial issues are often cruder and harder to track down, and aren’t necessarily from Egypt. It might be genuine, but it looks more like a copy made for sale to tourists in Egypt and has the appearance of having been soldered to something at one time (as modern jewellery?). Copies are commonly cast in silver from genuine coins, so weight/diameter isn't a reliable indicator for authenticity.

The genuine example I showed above sold for 81 euros ($88).

As always R-C a pleasure and education to read your posts. I'll pass the information on to my son.

Thank you for taking the time and for the educational reply. Now if I can just retain what I read, I could become smart!

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

It looks like it has a seam around the coin can you take a picture of the coin on edge?

 

[Retired Sarge]

It looks like it has a seam around the coin can you take a picture of the coin on edge?

I'll ask him, he found it on the way to a concert and sent us pictures.

 

[Doubter in MD]

As always R-C a pleasure and education to read your posts. I'll pass the information on to my son.

Thank you for taking the time and for the educational reply. Now if I can just retain what I read, I could become smart!

You and Charlie Gordon. (Flowers for Algernon)

 

[Mackaydon]

Some would call the OP's coin a fake since the letters L and C are reversed. Others would call the coin a fake since the 'C' should be an 'E' as shown in Red-Coats authentic citing.
Don.....

 

[Red-Coat]

Some would call the OP's coin a fake since the letters L and C are reversed. Others would call the coin a fake since the 'C' should be an 'E' as shown in Red-Coats authentic citing.
Don.....

Sorry, but I wouldn’t agree with that… although what I’m about to say doesn’t necessarily prove this coin to be genuine.

The letters on the reverse of these coins give us their date. The format (and I’m pretty sure this is for the Alexandria mint) is an L with another letter in an alphabetic sequence corresponding to the reign year for Antoninus Pius. No coins are known for “year 1” with an A, and the established sequence begins with the letter ‘B’ for AD 138/139. That’s how the authentic coin I showed can be dated to AD 141/142 since it has the letter E written in Greek style. The two letters aren’t necessarily placed one after the other in a particular order and may be in two different parts of the field or the exergue.

The posted coin has a letter C with the L, which – if the coin is authentic or a faithful copy – would be for AD 139/140. Note that the letters may be in Greek or Latin, although Greek is more usual. The Greek equivalent for the Latin C would be Γ

Regarding the presence of an edge seam, yes that’s a good way to determine a cast copy from an authentically struck coin… but only if the seam is present. On some copies it may be filed/polished away to add to their credence.


Just one other thing. I believe in this period, a tetradrachm of this type would probably be "billon" (silver alloyed with copper) rather than fine silver.

 

[Retired Sarge]

We can definitely rule this as a copy/fake. Just had it in hand and you can see a seam. See pictures.

 

[Red-Coat]

Thanks for the follow-up Mike. Case closed!

 

[Retired Sarge]

Thanks for the follow-up Mike. Case closed!

No problem, I hate it when people post and never follow-up. So I made sure to close this post with a definitive answer.

Thank you all for your help....