I have an ancient Greek coin that is apparently dated to 500 BC, past down from generation to generation in my family. I was wondering what it says on it, and any additional information. Pictures enclosed in here.

by GoldenMoe

http://imgur.com/z2e0QtX,cqEnGfw#0

I find it interesting to wonder about my ancient Greek ancestors. My father said that my grandfather had this coin dated by a museum to 500 BC. The side with the man in a crown, quite clearly says "Basilea" which means king(even in modern Greek), followed by a name that may say "Selvykou" but really I can't read ancient Greek, especially when the engraved letters are half faded. I googled Selvykou, nothing came in English, but there was a greek forum which talked about it. I only read Greek very faintly so it wasn't making much sense to me. So my best guess is "King Selvykou" or "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΑ ΣΕΛΒΥΚΟΥ".

The other side has a herd of animals with the letters "ICA" or "ICL" (the Λ makes an L sound, the from the modern greek word lamda) which I can't translate either, any additional information about this would be fantastic.

I would love to learn about my heritage, and my ancestor's values and way of life, possibly where this coin may have come from. I would also love to learn about this "King Selvykou" and what he was all about. If there's any info or written accounts on this guy and his time period I would love to read about it in depth. That's why I ask here! I need someone more informed than myself to help me work it out. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

EDIT: Evidence suggests that the coin is probably a fake! Which stumps me why a museum told my grandfather otherwise. Something shifty must've happened down the lines in my family! Thanks everyone for the help.

tleilaxan

I don't know what source to provide for this, but this is a fake. This is a cast coin, and the Greeks were not casting coins. While this might be a contemporary counterfeit, I don't think it's worth much. This could possibly be a "fantasy coin" instead of a counterfeit, because it doesn't look anything like a real 500BC Greek coin.

Adrian_Bock

Keep in mind OP that while the coin's historic inauthenticity might diminish it's dollar value, you shouldn't let that affect it's sentimental value within you and your family as an heirloom that's come down through the generations. Very few families have something that is handed down like this - yours does. Personally I wouldn't care if it was a Chucky Cheese coin as long as I knew I was carrying on a family legacy.

lacedaimon

I know I'm way late, but I'm an ancient numismatist, dealer and collector. This coin is definitely not ancient, and definitely not Greek, though the botched legend is in Greek. Sorry to sound so harsh, but it is what it is. The Greeks only minted coins in silver at the 500 B.C. (6th century) period, and bronze coins would eventually come in the 5th century B.C.

Also, Greek coins were far more beautiful than the coin that OP has. Especially coins of Sicily in the 5th century B.C. I don't think anyone will ever top them! Museums have recreated many great ancient coins over the past century or so, but the coin that OP listed isn't anything from a museum that I have seen, it's simply what we call a "tourist coin", get it! Here's an example of a very nice Greek coin from the mid 4th century BC:

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=170590

Here's a badass piece from Sicily, in a city called Akragas (notice the little Corinthian helmet):

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=191439

Coming in at a cool $700 g's is this exquisite piece from Syracuse:

http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=199613

I should note that ancient Greek and Roman coins can be found for far less money than these examples. You can get a decent ancient coin for $30 for example. I just picked some random pieces to show just how incredible ancient Greek coins were! Hopefully someone see's this post!!

zifyoip

A Google translation of this page seems to suggest that coins like this were made as forgeries, possibly in Bulgaria in the late 1800s or early 1900s.

That page almost certainly does not qualify as a reliable source, but this should perhaps prompt you to be more skeptical about the coin's provenance.

OrangeAdept

Found this: It might be helpful...

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=157906

ILikeButtsicles

Well, the museum might have made a mistake for several reasons:

  • dating methods, and archaeology in general was much less advanced compared to the field today.
  • an individual made a mistake.
  • your grandfather didn't go to the right source. He might've gone to an intern or a non-professional, who would've tried to do something they're not qualified to do (i.e. determine whether something is a forgery or not).

Even if it was genuine, I wouldn't put stake on the coin being an indicator of your family lineage. Ancient coins are very sought after by looters, and a popular item for artifact collectors and/or tourists. Unfortunately, it's not difficult to come into contact with an ancient coin, legally or illegally.

There's also the fact that coins were used for trade (obviously) so naturally coins travel.

UrsaPrime

Not sure, but is the first letter of the second word a sigma or an epsilon? You transliterate it as an S, but it doesn't look like the other sigma in basilea, and looks more like another E.

Did the museum happen to tell you what metal it was made of? That could help narrow it down.

Le_Herp-derper

The ancients didn't really use crowns resembling anything like that. I would say it was post Bezantein except they were sort of separated from Europe culturally at the time so it may be fake. Sorry for misspellings but I'm on my phone at the moment.