IDENTIFYING FAKE COINS

As a novice I´m still having difficulties with fake coins.

I´m 67 and have bilateral cataract (initial stages) and the floaters most of the time fool me.

Some fakes are "almost" perfect.

Unfortunately I have only these photos, so could someone help me to identify the authentic ones and attribute with references these coins?

Of course to judge a coin if it´s fake or not only by a photo is almost impossible, but who knows if some of them "shows its real face".

The first one, Athena with Corinthian helmet and Nike (a silver coin?) is 15mm, the second Eukratides, (???) a good candidate for a fake, has 17mm, the golden one which "I don´t know who you are" is 18mm, and the elephant with a humped bull, probably Bactria, Apollodotos I, square AR Drachm (Elephant standing right, monogram beneath / humped bull standing right, monogram beneath. Mitchiner 207a) is 19mm X 19mm.

 

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I will write only about the upper right coin, which is an "obvious" fake. First of all, it is supposed to be silver--high-quality silver. If you have a silver spoon in some drawer the coin will be better silver than that. Now, look at the spoon. Is the surface smooth, or will lots of tiny bumps? No bumps. Does the spoon have lots of tiny pits? No pits. Some genuine coins have corrosion which yield lots of pits, but until you know more I recommend you avoid pitted coins.

So, back to the upper right coin. It is not good silver. That's conclusive it is a fake. It has lots of surface bumps (like a sand cast). That's conclusive it is a fake.

Look at the surfaces of lots of genuine coins, especially of coins of the same era as the coin you are considering. (You could do this with the enlarged photos on vcoins.) If you are considering a coin with an unusual surface, don't buy it. There are many more coins out there to spend your money on. If you have any doubts, you should pass on a coin. There will be others of its type, but genuine, you can buy instead.

 

Thanks Valentinian. The more I learn the more I will avoid these coins.

 

For precious metals it will do you good to learn the proper weights of the coins you are looking at. It will probably rule out some right away. All 4 appear to be made by the same person/studio IMHO.

 

I don't know about the same person/studio, but my first impression is that they are all fake. My reasoning stems from the "mushiness" of the devices as well as the pits @Valentinian pointed out (including the pits on the second coin reverse).

Did they all come from the same seller? If so and one is most definitely fake, then by association I would assume the others to be as well.

 

Get yourself a magnifying glass and make sure the coins you purchase FROM A MAJOR DEALER are SHARPLY detailed.

 

Hi Insider. Fortunately I didn´t buy these coins. But I suspected they all are fake. Although I´m a novice, these coins were very strange to me. I have difficulties to establish if a coin is authentic or not, but I hope with time I´ll be able to acomplish it.

 

I agree they have the soft mushy look of casts.

Try vcoins.com for authentic coins.

 

One thing you have to learn as a collector is to distinguish mushiness from wear. In the above examples, with the details that you can see on the helmets/portraits, I would expect a much sharper coin overall. The weaknesses you see on the coin design are not consistent with what you would expect from natural wear on a coin, but rather mushiness from a cast.

Also, the surfaces exhibit the classic pimples and bubbles (indentations and irregular raised bumps on the surface) which you get from a casting job when air bubbles formed between the original coin used and the cast that was made out of it in order to forge other coins. Although pimples can be present on a genuine coin due to die rust and die damage/break from worn dies, they will usually be irregular in shape instead of bubbly looking, which is what your coins exhibit.

Authentic coins can also have indentations in them from corrosion, and is not a sign of forgery. Even silver coins can exhibit corrosion like that. However, such indentations on the coin surface will appear irregular in shape, and not look like little bubbles (which is what you get from bubbles on the mold during the casting process for a forgery). In yours the bubbling/indentations look too regular and is not consistent with what I would expect from a genuine coin that was naturally corroded.

So all in all, 3 thrown balls produced 3 strikes, which means "Your coins are out!" Better luck getting better players...i mean coins... next time. I really got to stop with the baseball analogies on coin threads.

 

pirgah, posted: "Hi Insider. Fortunately I didn´t buy these coins. But I suspected they all are fake. Although I´m a novice, these coins were very strange to me. I have difficulties to establish if a coin is authentic or not, but I hope with time I´ll be able to acomplish it."

I've been working on that goal since I was twenty-eight! I'm older than you and it is getting harder each year to reach that goal! Nevertheless, we should not give up trying.

Quickest way to your goal is to study genuine coins very closely. Good Luck!

 

All non-genuine coins are not necessarily forgeries. Some may be replicas, or reproductions, to be sold as such, and not intended to trick possible customers. For instance, I have a packet of 4 "Roman Coins", of Julius Caesar, Domitian, Claudius and Nero (given to me by a kind friend).In looking closely, each "coin" is engraved with "WRL". Meaning Westair Reproductions Ltd., a Birmingham, U.K. firm.

 

Unless a coin is intentionally made to deceive, replicas/reproductions/tourist coins should all be marked as copies. Unfortunately, many are not marked and sold as authentic.

 

This page has study images and text to help you learn how to identify cast fakes:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/thumbnails.php?album=14

 

For comparison, a non-super quality, but real, specimen of your lower left type.

 

And many have the replica thing removed to deceive further customers...

Q

 

If replicas are sold as genuine, that is equivalent to forgery. Camouflaging replicas as genuine is deception.

 

For comparison: Here are a couple of mine that are similar, but are NOT Fakes...


India Indo-Scythian King Azes I 57-30BCE AR Drachm
Ex: @John Anthony


Baktria Apollodotos I 180-160 BCE Square AR Drachm 20mm 2.4g Elephant Zebu SNG ANS 324-327
Ex: @Sallent

 

Excellent post from all that contributed.

 

Thank you very kindly for the comprehensive, in-depth responses received.

They have indeed been very helpful and insightful.

 

Does this coin look fake