Need Help to Identify a Coin

Stew

Not sure what this coin is I picked it up back in 79 or 80 in New Mexico the doubling on the letters on the right hand of the reverse was what caught my attention back then. Stored it at the folks house when I returned and just recently got a call from Mom that there was a box of my old stuff still in the attic, this and other stuff were in there. Very Corroded I have the coin in Pure Acetone now but took a shot of it before I put it in there tonight. Any Help would be greatly appreciated I collect primarily Eisenhower Dollars. What I know about ancients would fit in a thimble. Just thought it was a cool coin.

Thank You

Stew

lathmach

Ancient Greece?

Ray

Stew

That's Kind of what I thought back then From the image of the guy Just not sure
I would like to get it preserved and classified so I can get it into the rest of the collection
Just at a loss

Sapyx

Sadly, this is not a real coin. It's a rather crudely done fake, too - whoever made it had no knowledge of the Greek alphabet and no idea what the legends were supposed to say.

The design is based (very loosely) on an ancient Greek tetradrachm of the post-Alexander the Great period. The garbled legend could match that of several kings, but the closest match is Nikomedes III of Bithynia. Here's an example of what a genuine Nikomedes III tetradrachm would look like.

The legend is supposed to read (in Greek letters) BASILEWS EPIFANOUS NIKOMHDOU, but the lambdas are drawn as "A", the S and I have fused together into a backwards "B" shape, the M has become an "N", and the final delta has also become an "A". You'll also note on the pic of the genuine coin (and on other ancient coins) that the ancient method of carving letters onto coin dies was a kind of "join the dots" affair, with big blobs at the tips of all the letters; the letters on your coin lack these.

Stew

Sapyx,

Thank You Very Much For Your Input.
Before I put a lot of time into trying to preserve this piece.
I can now throw it in the pile with with the other Dreck that we collectors tend to accumulate
over the course of our collecting lives.

Again Thank You Sir,

Stew