Excellent pictures, as usual but observe the obverse of the 'medallion and how the dots of the rim occlude the trunk of the elephant headdress where as in this Ptolemaic example
- Svoronos_022.jpg (49.76 KiB) Viewed 1351 times
Here the trunk is clearly shown and the celator (die engraver) has planned to keep his design within the standard flan, now, I have not checked every die of these Ptolemaic issues, but all that I have seen are similarly well executed. The flans are of comparable size so this is no artefact of a smaller area with which to work. And the reverse has a mark, the crossed I, which shows that the die had been checked and passed with a lost trunk, it has not worn away there is no room for it, and this at a time when Alexander was killing satraps? Only a minor point compared with the spectographic evidence correctly interpreted but a solid hint that this is the confection of a modern forger. ( Had the so-called 'late-Kushans' issued these coins one would have expected to find more of them).
Incidently, while checking the weight odf a double-daric, the alleged denomination of this coin I found that two other double darics were found in this hoard allegedly issued by Mazaios in Babylon
- doubledaric.jpg (44 KiB) Viewed 1351 times
looks like our forger was practising!
When you think about, it free-choice is the only possible option.
