Movie star coin in "The Man Who Would Be King" is tourist fake

These pictures are from the 1975 film "The Man Who Would Be King" which stared
Sean Connery and Michael Caine as two former British soldiers who venture
into 1880's Afghanistan to find a lost kingdom and appropriate a treasure.
It is based on the famous story by Rudyard Kipling and was filmed mostly in Morocco.

At one point Sean Connery holds a coin with the head of Alexander the Great on it.



At the lower right is part of another coin which is upside down, and has the
legend "COS II S C" and some wavy lines.

It looks similar to this fake Roman coin of Lucius Verus:



This coin is a 35mm fake coin which is not based on a real Roman coin.
They are usually sold to tourists at ancient sites in Europe and Asia.

A similar coin is featured in the CT post by Eyestrain
Tourist Fakes: The Quest - Part IV, Ephesus
http://www.cointalk.com/t174346


As far as the film is concerned, I would classify these as "props".
Real ancient coins would be expensive and could get lost around film sets.

 

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I see the same on most movies and series, even good ones like Rome. Tbh I never expect anything else, and am happy if they know enough to at least have fakes imitating appropriate items from the period, unlike a "Roman" movie I saw once that had medievla coins change hands.

With props being lost and the small size of coins, do you really think the producers should be buying thousand dollar coins for something maybe 10 people will ever notice?

Chris

Btw look at the solid circle around the Alex tet, another bad fake. I will give you maybe they should spend a little more for a little better fake. They can ask China.

Edit: My favorite scene for ancient coins is from "Rome". In it the guy owes a doctor like 20 gold pieces, the doctor looks at each one, then throws one out saying, "this one is brass". I had to think about it and how the brass coins of the era would look a lot like gold.

 

I enjoy keeping an eye out for prop coins in period movies. I haven't seen The Man Who Would Be King in years, so I'll have to revisit it and watch out for that scene. It's rare we get such a closeup. Usually I have to criticize the prop coins from a distance, as in "Those are too big/too flat/too round."

From the same episode of Rome you mentioned, here's a closeup of the denarii from the gambling scene (which leads directly into why a doctor needs to be summoned). Note there are only three or four different designs, none of them real. But at least they look reasonably Republican for the few seconds they're on screen.

 

Our fakes are so close, I thought we might have a die-match (or, more accurately, a mold-match). But there seem to be a few small differences. Still, it wouldn't surprise me if they came from the same tourist-fake factory.

 

the best coin i have eve seen is in the film "lady jane grey" as she is beheaded a shilling drops from her hand with her effigy on it, i am surprised that no-one has ever tried to cash in on this by producing what would be the ultimate fantasy coin...........

 

On the 2nd season of Rome, one coin type looks very much like a Maximinus/Galerius era portrait XD

 

Yeah, Rome was well done. While I didn't like the plot direction as much on the second season, its a real shame they stopped producing the series. Best historically true films on ancient Rome probably ever, (short of documentaries that is).

Spartacus is not horrible, I watch that one from time to time.

 

The Roman Lucius Verus fantasy coin:


Lucius Verus Sestertius Chariot - Tourist Fake (fantasy coin)
Bronze, 38mm, 18.10gm, Catalog: None
Struck: Recently

Obverse: Laureate head right L VERVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX IPP VIIII
Reverse: Man driving chariot with four horses COS II / S C in exergue

This is a modern-made fake coin sold to tourists visiting ancient sites.