We try too hard to make things look possibly good when it it obvious that they are not. This week there was a coin on eBay that attracted my attention. (You can search for the sale if you wish - I will not be advertising for this guy.) While identified as Septimius Severus and selling for the correct Septimius price of $41, it was a cast fake from a genuine Pescennius Niger. The seller is on the published fake seller lists and his other coins look pretty obvious fake - mostly diestruck from modern dies but this one was of correct style. Looking over the bunch he sold recently, the most obvious is another 'Septimius Severus' which went for $36. It was clearly a Divus Pertinax. You will find it on the fake lists since it is not a cast but from known fake dies. If real in that grade, $3600 would be closer. I believe the trick here is to make the bidder think that the seller had misidentified a rare coin and it might be bought for a Septimius price. I know there are those who figure that a chance of getting something for next to nothing is worth a tenth the price of a good one. If anyone really looked at those two coins and believed that they are Septimius Severus and genuine, I'd be very surprised. Someone would have bid higher if they really thought they were genuine Pescennius Niger and Divus Pertinax. If the coins actually sold (not a shill), they will probably be resold to someone else who knows less. After you determine that a seller is on the fake seller lists or that a substantial enough number of his offerings are fakes so he belongs on the lists, stop looking at his other offerings. Nothing said, no evidence presented, offsets their being known sellers of fakes. Even if they did have a real coin, do you really want to send them your money. If you want a fake, buy it from someone who is selling it as a fake. I really would like to have had that cast Pescennius Niger for my 'Black Museum'. It started at $2.25 + $10 postage. I wonder if the winner received the coin shown in the photo?
That person from greece? See the listings often, I just scroll on by. They even looked fake to me without checking the fake list. They have a nickel look to them in his pics. But I have had dealers that sold fakes by accident cause their supplier...gonna say Heritage!, sold them in a lot and after being sent back, the in turn send to heritage and tell them they're fake after all. So sometimes they are accidents. But this is just one of many scenarios.
I have a feeling I'll be scrolling through that 'Fake List' more and more in the coming months... So many listings on ebay just look too good to be true and the coins a 'bit off'...I guess too many of us hope to find bargains and become 'suckers' in the endeavor.
You can only try to be a smart shopper, checking the fake databases and the NFSL. Not all fakes are listed, but at least you can do some homework before you buy.
We all try to avoid fakes as best we can. We all prefer not to pay a dealer twice as much as we feel a coin is worth. Where we each draw the line between these two is a matter of preference. When you are buying from a trustworthy dealer, part of the price you pay compensates them for their service and expertise. They spent much time and effort getting to the point that they make fewer mistakes than we would. What upsets me is when a seller sets himself up as an expert with inflated prices and boastful attitude when they know less about the subject that several of us who post here. I do suggest that new collectors stay with trusted dealers when buying coins they can not afford to throw away. I have a few thousand genuine coins (and a few dozen fakes) I bought over the years that each contributed to my education of what an ancient coin should be. Many are no longer the sort of thing I would buy today. Education is not cheap whether you rent it (from a dealer) or learn as you go shopping on eBay.
The advice and information provided by both you and Doug are well received by me. In fact, one of the many reasons i joined this site was to learn how to best distinguish between fake and genuine ancient coins. So many more seem to be available, in all grades and price levels, than when I was still focusing only on ancients back before the new millenium---the internet and the opening of the iron curtain obviously having a substantial impact in that regard. So, 'read the book before you buy'.....
