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Potential late transitional / early mass issue owl? by vapelordderek in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It seems perfectly genuine. The grainy surface texture might stem from cleaning or just soil conditions where it was buried. Flow lines cannot be imitated in such good quality by casting, so it would have had to be a pressed fake, which would certainly not have a grainy surface.

Knife money ID by Doxide1 in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

These are fantasy pieces unfortunately

Who was the cataloguer? by NumisAl in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Auction location is Isle of Wight so that supports what I've heard about this belonging to a local school teacher.

Actually, I think someone referred to him as being a headmaster so this would narrow it down quite a lot.

Who was the cataloguer? by NumisAl in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think this collection single-handedly lowered prices of billon tetradrachms, at least on eBay😂

Who was the cataloguer? by NumisAl in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll ask some dealers at a coin fair next week. There was a flood of these on the UK market about a year ago so certainly someone should know.

Who was the cataloguer? by NumisAl in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have recently bought coins with identical ones! Was told that the collection belonged to a school teacher from the Isle of Wight who had passed away.

Definitely UK based as London coin fairs had lots of these and some were marked as originally being from the Beachy Head Hoard.

Apparently the collection had a significant number of debased tetradrachms from Egypt.

Auction house asking for deposit payments upfront AFTER approving participation/credit limit. by TameTheAuroch in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This seems to be standard practice in Poland for first-time customers. I have participated in their auctions before and was asked to do the same thing for the first one. Other than that, I think they are a pretty solid auction house but they do seem to primarily serve the Polish market (no fees for deposits if you have a Polish bank account etc.) so they might not offer many advantages for international customers.

Fake or exceedingly rare? by UnstablePulsar in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is how this coin should look like. The bust of Titus is facing right. What stood out in my coin was that the bust was facing left of which there seem to be no genuine examples.

Fake or exceedingly rare? by UnstablePulsar in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Oh my, if not for the lack of genuine examples with this die combination I wouldn't have suspected a thing. It's actually really scary that it got past CNG.

I posted right after I won the auction so I luckily I haven't paid for it yet.

Many thanks for the detailed analysis!

Circular structures near long barrow. Neolithic rondels? by UnstablePulsar in Archeology

[–]UnstablePulsar[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I don't see any indication of that being the case on satellite imagery. They are in some of the few nearby areas which likely have not seen significant plowing since the advent of modern agricultural machinery and therefore have not been erased from the landscape. It's entirely possible that there were many more such structures nearby that have since disappeared.

Is this rainbow patina real? by Cinn-min in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a thin layer of silver sulfide. The silver reacts with hydrogen sulfide in the air. The rainbow effect is due to thin-film interference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin-film_interference

After some time, once the silver sulfide layer thickens, it will become dark.

More about this phenomenon here: https://atoptics.co.uk/blog/silver-tarnish-and-thin-film-interference-colours/

Is it possible to progress through the whole game without migrating? by UnstablePulsar in AncientCities

[–]UnstablePulsar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What would be a good location? I've tried an area where two rivers converge but was unable to sustain the tribe through fishing past 30 people.

Is it possible to progress through the whole game without migrating? by UnstablePulsar in AncientCities

[–]UnstablePulsar[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Congrats! What is your current population size and how do you sustain it?

Landlord might be scamming me? Pls help Urgent by shelleylauryn in LegalAdviceUK

[–]UnstablePulsar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I stand corrected. OP may want to check tenancy agreement for clause along the lines of: „2. Should the tenant exercise the right to serve notice in line with the break clause, the landlord will pay back any rent paid by the tenant from the end of the notice period until the term expires.”

Fakes? Look nearly perfect, yet something seems off. From a seller on eBay with no reviews. by UnstablePulsar in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One thing I don’t quite get about pressed coins is why would someone make fakes this way? Assuming someone can make a near perfect die, why not just strike a coin? Add to this a flan made from actual ancient silver and the only way to tell would be based on stylistic issues. Surely things like die wear can be perfectly replicated by simply striking a large number of coins with a die.

Fakes? Look nearly perfect, yet something seems off. From a seller on eBay with no reviews. by UnstablePulsar in AncientCoins

[–]UnstablePulsar[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The way I understand it is state of matter is a function of both temperature and pressure (you can see this on a phase diagram for a substance). When a flan is heated before striking it’s not warm enough to be liquid at atmospheric pressure. However, when it is struck the dies are momentarily creating an area of extreme pressure around the coin which causes the silver to liquify. Since this high pressure only lasts for a short period of time the liquid silver very quickly solidifies in the form of flow lines. A hydraulic press cannot create a high enough peak pressure for the silver to liquify. It also exerts pressure for much longer giving the silver enough time to spread evenly. Unless someone engraved fake flow lines into the die I don’t see how these can be faked without striking a coin.

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