Real Julius Caesar or...?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Nathan Waters, Jun 30, 2020.

  1. Nathan Waters

    Nathan Waters Member

    Is this a deal or an obvious fake? I have been looking for one of these for a while, being a student I have a very limited income.

    The backside looks funky to me, overly smooth, and the price tag on it was a red flag as well. But with your expert blessings I would love to add this coin to my small but growing collection!

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/153986284717
     
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  3. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

  4. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    Yes. Yes, it is.
    giphy-8.gif

    Plus, never dump money on an unknown Ebayer, especially with a whopping total of thirteen sales.
     
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  5. Nathan Waters

    Nathan Waters Member

  6. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    And a bad fake at that.
     
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  7. Nathan Waters

    Nathan Waters Member

  8. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Glad that you checked on it before pulling the trigger.
     
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  9. Nathan Waters

    Nathan Waters Member

    [​IMG]

    Thank you, I do seem to have a knack for finding fakes. And yes the seller as well was a flag, but for the price + my inexperience I had to know. Thank you experts! The search continues
     
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  10. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Nathan, I say this in all sincerity. If you are new, do not cruise Ebay. Spend your time at someplace like Sixbid or Numisbids and peruse those legitimate ancient coin auctions. Train your eye what a real coin looks like. Its free, you can see and read about all kinds of great coins, and it is invaluable education.

    If your eye did not see at least 4 red flags in that coin you listed, then you really should not be tempted by Ebay. I have a hard enough time spotting some of the fakes there, and that is with 20+ years of ancient experience. Best to train your eye correctly now, then you will be in a better position to get some good deals on Ebay from time to time. Save for a couple of esoteric areas I collect and know some sellers on Ebay, I don't bother anymore. Not worth my time to slosh through the enormous piles of crap. Plus, I worry my eye for spotting fakes gets worst the longer I look at Ebay, as it gets desensitized to fakes, there are so many there.
     
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  11. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    While there is merit in the advice to avoid eBay, I do suggest you 'play the game'. The seller that will not be selling you the fake Caesar has three other Roman Republican coins offered at the moment. I suggest you look at them and decide if they seem better or worse - more or less likely to be fake. There are two kinds of fake sellers. First are the ignorant. They did not know what they bought was fake and were cheated by someone else. The second is very much aware of what they are doing and need to be exterminated. You do business with neither of them. You can learn from both. Which is this seller? At the bottom of of the listing for the fake Caesar are other lots 'like this' including four elephants on my visit just now. How many of those four are genuine or have even the slightest chance of being genuine? What say you experts here on CT?
    I agree there are many but there are many fakes not on eBay and you will take longer to learn enough to protect yourself even a little bit. That is why we suggest you buy from trusted sellers. Some of them do business on eBay. If you want a Caesar elephant, you need to realize that you are not alone and people who make fakes know that. There are more fake coins of these popular numbers so it is something you absolutely must buy from a trusted and knowledgeable source. I suggest you start by selecting good sellers and wait until one of them has an elephant for you. I'm in line for that one, too.
     
  12. ycon

    ycon Renaissance Man

    This coin is a great example to look at, actually, to learn what a cast coin looks like. It has all the characteristic softness/soapiness and there are casting bubbles all over.
     
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  13. Herodotus

    Herodotus Well-Known Member

    Once again, Not an expert by any stretch of the word...

    [​IMG]
    Obvious Fake

    [​IMG]
    Obvious Fake

    [​IMG]
    Looks legit, but overpriced @$545 IMHO

    [​IMG]
    NGC graded, but also overpriced @$1593
     
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  14. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    I agree it is fake. I am not so sure about it being a cast fake - it looks pressed to me - that overall broad, too-round flan with sharp edges, struck up devices/legends but with an overall too-even look. I don't see any casting bubbles

    In any case, fake.

    Not to malign particular parts of the world, but Bulgaria seems to be the epicenter for this sort of fake on eBay.

    Here is a Roman Republican denarius I bought on eBay a while ago that turned out to be fake (I returned it and got a refund). In my opinion, this is a fairly high-quality cast fake. Not sure what the weird toning was all about - an effort to age it, probably:

    FAKE Roman REp. Sextus Pompeius Fustlulus edge (0).jpg
     
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