Me and my friend Francois meet about once a year and discuss about numismatic and share new additions to our collection. This spring, he showed me one of his favorite: a nice Nero with very sharp details. “So what do you think of it?”he asked me. “Hummm”.( I know my friend for thirty years and recognise this look on his face ).I’m trying to win some time and replied : “where did you get it ?” With a big smile he said: “ From my trip to Bulgaria....” — Slavey Petrov ? — Yesss sir! Round#1 and first beer — I can’t believe you spent your money for this forger ! Frank: Slow down pal. He is an artist, maybe the best engraver of modern time. I think he’s the new ‘Becker’. — Isn’t he the guy who fooled the British Museum with one of his ‘creation’ ? Frank : Come on, rumors, only rumors ! — Do you have any idea how many people have been scamed by his fake coins ? Frank : Fake news ! He always put his name on his imitations. He strucked copies with clues to distinguished them. The man is a master and never intend to fool anyone. Only ignorants who know nothing about numismatic got caught. — So if it’s true, why is he so hated by almost all collectors ? He would surely never win a popularity contest ! Frank: Listen, he studied at Vara University in metal technologies. He used to work for ‘Lanz’ in Munich as an expert. He even enrolled himself at the Academy of Arts...Does he have the background of a con ? Round#2 and another beer — Ok. So let’s assume Slavey was an honest ‘artist’ who only want to make reproductions with the same techniques of ancient celators. But what do you have to say about the ‘Bulgarians schools’ he created ? Frank : I have to admit that some of his apprentices had been seduced by the dark side of the Force. I heard that the ‘Lipanoff’ brothers were once his students. Later the Dimitrovgrad Studio became famous for the variety of forgeries they produced... — So he’s not a forger, but only the father of all Bulgarians forgers, right ? Frank : Listen, Bulgarian’s coin imitations are commonly referred to as ‘Slaveys’, but very few are actually from the hand of Slavey Petrov. He didn’t have control on what his apprentices did with the formation he gave them. In the beginning, his students were selling copies for tourist. — That’s an interesting point of view. Meanwhile, I can’t stop thinking of poors collectors who have been fooled by copies of copies of real ‘Slaveys’. Frank : Do you remember what I always tell beginners in our hobby ? If there is 1% chance that a coin is a fake, do not buy it ! — I agree, that is a good advice. Frank : Of course. It’s from Slavey Petrov himself.... Decision : tie match Give us your opinion or show us your coin on Slavey Petrov. Top picture: genuine Slavey’s coin (with a clue in it ) Bottom pictures : Bulgarian imitation without the clue....
Probably the only one I'd be interested in is an Eid Mar. Found this interesting: Slavey makes a coin salad
Sorry but in my opinion he is a total fraud. When he began to make copies he signed them, but later he stopped and intentionnaly fooled many collectors. And this crook is responsable for a whole new generation of forgers .
Here is Slavey's Athenian Wappenmuenzen tetradrachm replica: 17.1g, 27.3mm. (Not sure if this is a picture of mine that I scanned or a picture that I downloaded of someone else's example.) I believe these are available signed or unsigned. I got it 20 years ago. I never met Slavey. I did purchase a coin I believe to be genuine from him during a period in 2007 when he tried to go legit as a coin dealer on eBay. (in imitation of) MYSIA, Parion. 13mm 1.45g Obv: Gorgoneion, arc of dots representing tiara, crescents representing snakes Rev: Cow licking flank; crescents above imitating inscription; circle below in imitation of theta Purchased from Slavey Petrov, the notorious forger, via eBay
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." Oppenheimer was a scientist and murderer, even if he never dropped the bomb himself. Just as sure as Slavey is an artist and a forger.
I think his coins are collectable and I'd be happy to have one, but I understand why people wouldn't. To each his own. I have a Lipanoff in my collection.
Not my coin but a forgery I recently identified for a member on another forum that, according to FORVM fake reports is from Slavey dies. I've seen a number of similar coins based on the issues of this period in similarly wrong style lately, but none actually signed by Slavey. The distinct angular style and overall cartoonish look suggests the same engraver for all of them:
Thanks for your reply @Ed Snible . I didn’t know that Slavey tried to get back on the right track in 2007 !
Slavey Petrov is a criminal. These objects violate every canon of legitimate collecting. Slavey Petrov is an "artist" only in the sense that a sociopath is "charming." Attempting to legitimize this by pointing to Carl Wilhelm Becker is like validating Bernie Madoff by claiming that he was just the Charles Ponzi of his day ... which he was... but the crime remains a crime, Becker and Petrov alike.
