Okay. We need to talk about Katz...

I had to put that through Google Translate, but the answer is yes.

 

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I actually bought two coins from there...but only with paypal buyers protection and tracked shipping

 

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Its amazing how many fake coins are at this, Lansky live auction 4..Unbelievably!!!

 

Can you identify for us a few lot numbers of coins you regard as fakes?

 

Maybe for the benefit of the doubt we should just assume they all are?

 

In my opinion, I may be wrong, coins that are suspicious..Lots 108, 109, 112, 116, 121,125, 129, 180, 184, 188...My opinion, as I said..

 

Thank you.

EDIT: I posted below about the pedigrees.

 

Very, very strange auction, Valentinian..

 

EDIT: See my research below, confirming the pedigrees.

 

For what it's worth (I don't collect roman imperial) 109 is NGC slabbed.
I've bought coins from them in the past, and the color edit their photos; it does not do them favors in the 'looking real' department imo. (my coin was provenanced to ex-Nomos, so I think I'm in the clear) Here is the NGC online pictures: https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/4787403-001/NGCAncients/

 

It could be just the photos, but most of the Alexanders look odd. One particular oddity is lot 57. AFAIK the mint for Price 3575 is not Crete, nor is it of Lyttos. The mint/issuer is mostly unknown, but is often guessed to be somewhere in Syria/Phoenicia and Antigonos I Monophthalmos.

One general thing that also makes me suspicious is the percentage of perfectly centered coins seems odd for an auction, especially one that doesn't have the prestige of a Triton or Nomos.

 

All of the above lots have old provenances listed. I'd be more careful of condemning them.

 

Maybe I'm being too petrified now, but I went through the auction to find a coin whose provenance I can verify (I don't have any of those old auction catalogs), and I found this one.

Here's the Triton VIII coin they reference.

Does Lansky just have the world's worst coin photographer? These do not look like the same coin. In particular, Julianus' eye looks completely off. At the very least, the last 16 years haven't been kind to Julianus.

 

I am losing interest in this hobby fast. The problem is that so many people seem to relish the opportunity of trying outwit the big auction houses and find a genuine, untooled and worthwhile coin rather than just patronizing sellers who are both honest and knowledgeable. Their pumping cash into the pockets of criminals and know-nothings will guarantee their survival because it is a lot harder to make a living buying real coins than wholesale lots of garbage. There will always be people with more money than sense. I used to joke about having my collection melted down and cast into an urn for my ashes. The direction of the hobby is making that look better every day. Any of you that bid in a sale with long series of obvious fakes deserve what you get. I see Katz has withdrawn a good number of the most obvious fakes including the one I really liked and would even have paid the 5 euro start price to add to my collection. Have you ever seen anything like lot 192?


I really would like to upgrade mine shown here several times but mine is so terrible (worst of the 3-4 I have seen) that most people would not have it for the 5 euros. I paid the Bulgarian I bought it from more than 5 euros. I hope mine is real. Does that mean anything anymore?

Suggestion: if you are going to play the ponies, bet on the ones with the best drugs (they run faster). If you are going to bid in all these sales around the world, hire an auction representative. Last I heard, the 5% they charge (current rate?) would be money well spent for those of you with enough spending cash that you need to bid wildly on coins about which you have not a clue.

 

The best advice I have heard is to "Know the coin or know the seller."

A very small part of trying to know the coin is to read the auction listing for obvious red flags. In this case, for all of the lots mentioned there are old provenances listed which apparently escaped notice or were discounted out of hand.

Why would an auction house list provenances if they're false? It should be easily verifiable (at least for some lots).

 

Why hire specialist when you describe yourself as « Expert of the Ministry of the Russian Federation in numismatics ».

https://mobile.twitter.com/katzstanislav?lang=en

 

A little due diligence googling for Lansky propietor Jean-Baptiste Forestier and his business partner Sonja Lambert reveals them previously working together at Brussels based "51 Gallery" which is then linked together with Forestier's name to another prior business "Phoenix Ancient Art". At "Phoenix Ancient Art" Forestier had apparently been in business with Ali and Hicham Aboutaam, the current owners. The Aboutaams seem to be perennially getting investigated for unsavory things, and maybe by association Forestier was arrested, but cleared, of money laundering charges related to their antiquities trade.

The good news for those leery of Estonian businesses is that Lansky is now operating as a Serbian based LLC that was registered 6 months ago.

 

My response to each of the last two posts is "Well, in that case, there's nothing to worry about!" Who can argue with the Ministry of Numismatics of the Russian Federation, or with a numismatist based in Serbia?