I knew it was some in drawer, and I found it today. It's not the greatest and it's not the worst. I think it is made of silver, but of unknown fineness. I don't see any hallmark or maker's mark. The coin weighs 37.8 grams, and it is cast and polished with artificial patina applied in the recesses. The overall color is gun metal grey. The quality is not bad, possibly a 19th or early to mid 20th century creation. I don't know too much about these modern copies.
My favorite Syracuse dekadrachm replica is the dated 1898 advertising piece in pot metal for the Stearns Bicycle Co. in Syracuse NY. NGC (not ancients) even grades these! https://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-Syracu...mpany-Decadrachm-Coin-NGC-AU-50-/193414336684
Surprisingly, some of these fakes/copies/replicas command respectable prices. This information is from CoinQuest: "There are many replicas of these coins that would never fool a seasoned collector, but there are also better counterfeits that require serious inspection to be revealed as such. With coins of this value, it is never a good idea to buy from a market stand on a street while on holiday in the Mediterranean -- trust only professional dealers! Now, as one of the most beautiful coins ever, the Syracuse dekadrachm has been copied many times over, and a curious thing has happened: collectors spend money, sometimes big money, to buy the fakes. Most fakes are worth zero. But not fakes of this coin. Very roughly: FAKE COINS Appealing coins made before 1900: $1000 Known fakes made before 1900: $500 Modern fakes made in silver: $100 Modern fakes made in base metal: $10" Here's a link: https://coinquest.com/cgi-bin/cq/coins.pl?coin=17557 I must say that my example is quite crude, of questionable silver content (I did a "tap" test last night, and the ring is in the extremely high castrato range), and of unknown vintage. But, this is a "poor man's or women's" version. I think I paid around $40 to $50 for it. Insofar that genuine versions of this dekadrachm are in the stratospheric price range, I happy with it.
Like most fakes, the appeal of replicas goes down the more one learns about the real thing. I have very little hands on experience with large Greek silver and have never touched a dekadrachm so the appeal of my Antiquanova pot metal coin (now $9 I believe - once cheaper) is greater than their Roman coins which are in no way deceptive because I know the originals better. I do like fakes with a history and place in the study of our hobby. This certainly includes things like Becker originals and Paduans but the demand for these has left me far behind the market price point.
Pictured below is a storecard struck in bronze sometime between 1922-1932, 35 mm, in the style of Euainetos. The storecard was designed by Alphonse Kolb for George Bauer (1870-1961), and struck by Bastian Brothers, Rochester, NY. Bauer was one of the pioneer numismatists in the U.S. and one of the co-founders of the Rochester Numismatic Association in 1912. Alphonse Kolb (1893-1983) was a German-American sculptor-medalist who lived in Rochester, NY, and for many years designed all the presidential medals for the R.N.A. The two dies pictured below were made for the Syracuse Numismatic Association with the obverse in the style of the famous decadrachms of Euainetos. I bought these dies at auction many years ago & have never found a medal struck from these dies ! Kolb signed the obverse die in micro letters below the bust of Arethusa. The best I could do is make a Play-doh impression of the die .
I have these too, not sure what they're struck in. Bronze maybe? The ones in the wrappers likely have never been removed.
They appear to made of brass and were produced to commemorate a 30th anniversary. Interesting tokens.
Since Doug Smith brought up the name "Becker", I'd like to post again a tetradrachm made by the master forger Carl Wilhelm Becker (1772-1830) that I won from a CNG auction 3 years ago. Becker's forgeries are not only collectable, but many of them have sold for more than the originals ! Becker made not only forgeries, but he invented phantasies of coins that never existed , especially coins of the Medieval Era. He made a game out of peddling these fakes to so-called "experts" & museum curators in the 19th century. Becker remains the consummate forger of the 19th century. He engraved his dies by hand, made his own planchets from worn-out ancient coins, struck the coins by hand, & would artificially age them before selling them. One of his tricks was to take newly minted fakes & put them in a bag of tiny steel chips, attach the bag to a wagon wheel, & ride about town until the fakes would wear-down by abrasion . The fake pictured below is good enough to fool experienced collectors & dealers today . ORIENTAL GREEK, Baktria. Greco-Baktrian Kingdom. Heliokles Dikaios. Circa 145-130 BC. AR Tetradrachm: 16.82 gm, 30 mm, 6 h. Dies by Carl Wilhelm Becker, 1772-1830. Obverse: Diademed & draped bust facing right. Reverse: Zeus holding thunderbolt & scepter, monogram in left field. Hill, Becker 128. Ex Jonathan Kern Collection. Pictured below is a genuine example of this coin type for comparison.
Some more on this type that I posted a while back. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/saturday-night-free-for-all.350933/page-27#post-4968159 - Broucheion
I'd never seen one of these before. Someone at Stearns must have really loved ancient coins; what an esoteric yet fantastic marketing item!
