You do realize that would fuel the market with more fakes. If he was willing to sell them at $200 for each die pair that means he is making a profit off of them. He will just make new dies....That is why I hate when I see people buy fakes they know are fake. It helps them grow their operation!
Thanks for adding parts of the guy's business card to the photo; that immediately reminded me of a discussion we had at a different site a while ago. Since my interest in ancient or medieval coins is limited (find them historically interesting but would not buy them myself), I did not pay that much attention then. But there were a few references to Spanish sites where Remoneda had been the subject of quite a few debates. Let me see what I can dig up ... http://www.imperio-numismatico.com/t13729-muestrario-de-las-reproducciones-de-remoneda http://www.identificacion-numismatica.com/t31582p105-fotos-de-piezas-de-remoneda-i http://blognumismatico.com/2011/06/09/entrevista-con-el-director-de-remoneda/ The first two are forum discussions in Spanish (from 2010) where Martin Lechuga even participated, and explained what he does. The third link takes you to an interview with him, again in Spanish. He says that he makes his reproductions as a service for customers who could never afford the originals, and he also suggests that nobody should buy a piece without a pedigree. Martin even explains how his "artificial patina" can be checked ... Admittedly I am not comfortable with this, to put it mildly. Now if Remoneda actually marks its products (at the end of the interview there is a photo of a marked edge), that should help, but there is still the problem with his earlier pieces. And who knows how the next maker of such reproductions works? Christian
I pondered with the thought to acquire a few Chinese fakes from aliexpress, in the end I'm still not sure if I will do it or not. The problem you state is certainly true, any amount of profit made by them helps to improve their operations and ultimately the quality of their forgeries. And eventually it will be no longer in ones own hands to decide what happens with the collection from a certain point on, fakes may indeed end up in the hands of unsuspecting people even if it was never intended to be the case. Fakes are definitely the main reason why I don't collect ancients.
True but among modern coins there are far less to be that fake worthy as to which extremes people are willing to to go to fake rare ancients. Which is also reflected in my collecting habits and among these most fakes aren't as good as not to be identificable. Also many coin designs of the 19th century have a lot of fine details, in higher grades, that are not that easily to be faked and like I said the potential profit in relation to the necessary effort may not really be worth any undertaking at all.
In Europe, we even got fake 1 and 2 euro coins... It's off all times, and for sure no reason to quit collecting ancients... Or no start at all...
Rudi your comparison is off. It's not about there being fakes or not, it's about the potential prospect of profits on individual ancients and the justification of huge efforts to create outstanding fakes opposite to that of cheap mass produced moderns. On larger economic scale the damage of fake 1 & 2€ coins is well greater than that on a single ancient, but this doesn't really effect a single collector to the same extent. Both are totally out of relation to each other.
Mostly true, but i have some from north africa, and one dug up in China. Roman coins travelled the world, especially silver and gold. Silver denari we well known i n China. Greaf post, though. Definitely great info. Thanks Rudi.
correcto. I do have a large photo file on Indian gold imitations on Roman aurei. Some are pretty good, some are so ... imitative, one cannot even recognize the emperor's portrait...
Correct, but many found there are not imitative. The loss of gold to India was tremendous. Romans imported much more from India than they exported, leading to net gold outflows to the subcontinent. The trade was even so important Rome controlled a port in modern day Eritrea to facilitate the trade, (and avoid tariffs paid to the persians).
Rudi, thank you very much for sharing this information! It is very much appreciated Having said that. Anyone who is making fake coins is dishonest. I say do not do business with dishonest people. If someone is making replicas or copies it should say "copy or replica" period! Fakes make me! :heated:
BTW, do not assume slabbed ancients have been accurately checked to be authentic. The grading agencies do not guarantee authenticity. Being educated is the best way guarantee you are getting an authentic coin and even then there is a chance you or the trusted dealer could be wrong. There many fake coins out there in all walks of collecting. Just saw two fake US Trade Dollars that were very scary. One was off weight the other magnetic At a local shop I just saw a heavily tooled or fake $250.00 ancient; I think it is just tooled; I hope; I didn't say anything because I am just getting to know the shop owner. It is sad that we live in unscrupulous times, but if you read history the unscrupulous are found throughout So we need to keep our loups, magnets, scales, fake data bases, inquiring questions, continuing education, and healthy skepticism at the forefront!
I find this thread appalling, serving only to build the hype and popularity of saying that "fakes" are OK. In some countries, the guy would have the authjorities knocking on his door and confiscating some or all of what he had. What he is doing is illgal in some places and downright dishonest in all others. Shame, shame, shame on you who think that this, and his offerings, even have an inkling of approval or honesty. Ebay, governments and law enforcement agencies have tried to put out the fires from dishonest people making fakes of any commodity, especially antiquities, antiques, and collectibles. The marketplace needs to be cleansed of these yokels, not supported.
Which is highly fortunate as most (but not all) pictures on e-Bay and the like are certainly not enough to tell if an item is genuine, much less being able to determine a grade.