Die struck forgeries

You also need to study what you are buying. There are modern dies that have been created that are used to create coins intended to fool and are peddled on by the unscrupulous.

Would you buy the following coin?



It is for sale on an auction platform from a dealer some would hope was trustworthy (though one with whom others are wary).

It is from modern - published dies. These are well documented online.

 

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About 10 years ago, I sold my entire collection of Chinese cash. The buyer, a Chinese national living in the US, told me that his collector friends in China will only buy from abroad because all of the Chinese coins offered for sale inside China are fake! True story.

 

The "Die-Struck Counterfeits" from my own collection were all US Large Cents.

 

Wow. Crazy, but it is a die match with ones posted in Ilya Prokopov's Fake Ancients Database. Would have fooled me at first glance, but not after more careful scrutiny. Caveat Emptor.

 

Has the dealer been notified?

 

Yes. I notify dealers and auction houses whenever I see fakes in their listings. This coin has not yet been removed from sale.

 

I have been thinking along the same lines. I consider my best protection against forgeries to be the fact that it requires quite a lot of human resourcefulness to make one good ancient fake. The potentional outcome is perhaps a 5-figure number of dollars. Resourceful people tend to be able to aquire money in better, less risky and more pro-social ways. As long as society provides them with those opportunities, that is.

Here’s a coin that I believe is a fake, and that fooled me back in 2007. My greed exceeded my knowledge, and I thought I made a good buy. As soon as I got it in hand, I reconsidered that. I believe this is a Slavey fake that still circulates; other versions than mine, that is.

 

The hadrian is cast.... here is a mate



https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pos=-16522

 

I would be taken by this. May I know in lack of the reported die in published forgeries, how would you know this is fake? I mean imagine that die match was not reported before and this is the first time such coin came on the market, how else would you know this is a fake?

 

LOL I saw that this one is being offered by Lanz on EBay yesterday... sigh...

I thought that dealers' reputations would be important, but I guess with the feeding frenzy in coins these days they can be a bit more cavalier in their activities?

 

I'd pay good money for that Republican quadrans. Best I've ever seen and because such nice examples rarely occur, few ancient comparators. Even with the engraved 1919, I might at first assume that was modern graffiti on an ancient coin. The patina and above all lettering look wrong and the smaller die circle on reverse compared obverse also lòoks wrong and also some details on side of the prow, but might buy this and regret at leisure. Anyway I love this set

 

These would all be things I would look for as making a coin suspect, but in and of themselves would not always guarantee the coin is a fake. A lot of this type of analysis is nuanced without having that carbon copy "twin" smoking gun from the database:

• The coin looks pressed and does not have the distinct "flow lines" that some struck coins have.
• There is less detail in Clodius' hair than other genuine examples (although the style is good enough to fool many)
• There is wear on the beard but not on other high points like the ear or the head
• an even, grey patina, although there are some artfully and subtly placed deposits on the reverse

Some fakes are obvious, but there are many more out there that are very deceptive, enough to fool many in a moment of weakness or inattention. This example reminds me to be a lot more careful and always do your homework before buying a coin, although checking the forgery database does not always guarantee that the coin will not be a forgery. Makes our hobby and passion a bit trickier and sometimes turns me off collecting (and EBay) for a time...

 

The Albinus has now been withdrawn.