Recently acquired this piece. It appears Greek. Gold & unique. Can you shed some light as to what the stamp, lettering and value of this piece could be. Pendant side 1: Lion Pendant side 2: half a bull and the inscription "THEIANA" and lower "EA" or EP" Stamp:
Yeh that's what I thought. Who knows what it really means, but a stab in the dark would be it is 54/100ths of 24K gold or 12.96K, that's not a purity I'm familiar with though. As far as the rest goes, how does this help? "tau eta sigma iota alpha nu alpha"
These coins are frequently reproduced and sold as souvenir-type jewelry, so it may need to be taken to a specialist and authenticated. *IF* authentic, it is an ancient Greek coin from the island of Samos ca. 400-365 BC. The obverse depicts a lion-skin headdress and the reverse, the front half of an ox with olive branch. It would have been struck in electrum, silver or bronze. I have no idea as to value.
Thanks Zlatibor for putting this myself and this piece on track. http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?search=similar:460315#0 Any reccomendations/leads on specialists in Greek coins? (In Australia preferably)
I took this piece to be appraised. First coin guru believed it was genuine but referred me to an expert in Greek coins, who then said it was "an excellent Jewellers Fake and still worth a few hundred dollars" Any interest in this piece? Make an offer.
So on a recen trip to London, by chance, I passed a small coin dealer just near the British Museum. He took a moment to look at the coin and said he believed it was genuine but due to its casing there was no way to confirm. The casing covers the edge which would show if the coin had been struck or cast. I then found myself in Paris at the Lourve discussing the piece with a numismatic expert there who shared the same sentiments as the guy from London. Saying the patina was accurate etc. So do I crack it out the casing? A couple hundred dollars if its fake, $10,000+ if real.
