I'm just getting into ancient coins and have been very caution about buying/bidding on non certified coins. I don't know how to detect fakes from sellers photos on eBay and could use a few pointers. My current focus is on the 12 Caesars, but I would like to pick up a few of the lower priced coins to grow my collection.
I think the best advice anyone of us can give you is to buy from trusted dealers/sellers at least until you feel comfortable about spotting fakes.
Stay away from eBay as a beginner. Browse the offerings at vcoins for starters and if you have any questions, post them here, or PM us. There is no one formula for detecting fakes, although there are plenty of markers.
Even as a beginner, you should not feel the need to buy only 'certified' coins. While the chances that you are going to stumble onto a fake on eBay is fairly high, the chances of you doing so on Vcoins is very low indeed. And there, you'll also find more sub-$20 coins than you can shake a stick at. Go to Vcoins and get happy!
The easiest way to find a fake is to seek a popular coin from a popular series at a discount price. Starting with 12 Caesars and looking for lower priced example is two strike right off the bat. You really need to buy from dealers of the highest reputation.
For "peace-of-mind" when first buying slabbed is a good choice. Reputable dealers will help you and get a good book on Iding fakes in your chosen area of interest is a must.This group will help you too....
Slabbed is not always a good choice when first buying ancients, unless you like getting robbed. Very common coins that never get counterfeited, and cost between $10 and $20 raw, find their way into slabs for $50 to $100. eBay is full of them. I'm no foe of authentication - if I'm buying a rare, expensive coin, I prefer the peace of mind that NGC or David Sear, or a reputable dealer with a lifetime guarantee can give me. But there are thousands of ancient coins in slabs that are only there for one reason: to swindle the beginner.
John (and others) regularly sells uncertified coins that are as low as $10 (or less) that are as good as certified coins that cost $50 but you are not paying $40 for the plastic. The chance of him making a mistake on a $10 coin is close enough to zero that you should consider buying four more @$10 for the same total expenditure. Then you can post the coins here and see if any of the rest of us want to argue about whether John made a mistake. So far we have not found him wrong in this respect so believe me someone here would speak up if we did. I can say the same for many regular dealers. We would love to catch their errors. I'd love to have an NGC slab with a fake coin inside but their errors are very rare, too. The difference is they charge a lot of money for an opinion on a $10 coin. We don't.
Why do people here not also recommend ma-shop.com? Should the beginners also stay away even from gitbud as beginner? - Other than John may as well answer.
ma-shop is great. I only recommended vcoins as a start. Gitbud-Naumann is both professional and excellent - they would never knowingly sell you a fake coin, and their Fed-Ex shipping is FAST.
I've found coins on ma-shop that I couldn't find anywhere else, particularly Nabataeans, so at least in my case, it's good to keep an eye on them.
