Does this look like a fake to you guys?

I don't like the style and I especially don't like how the dotted border isn't very circular. Brand new auction house. My spider-sense is tingling on this one!

 

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I don't claim to be an expert, but the lettering looks strange.

 

Not an expert in spotting fakes, but that dotted border shape is a red flag for me.

Edit - "apparently unpublished obverse" - but if you check
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/f...=&caption=on&older_than=&keywords=on&type=AND
this "sestertius" has several "versions" all with the portrait facing left.

 

Assuming that's supposed to be Julia Domna, there's something about her face -- maybe the shape of her nose? -- that doesn't look quite right to me. But I've been wrong before.

 

Whoo Hoo, another new week & new problem auction thread.

As for the "coin", it does look off, even down to the the very edges.

 

I see nothing wrong with that coin


But seriously, as someone who likes checking out new auction houses I have to say, auctions do offer better prices, better coins and less risk then ebay. Though much like ebay, you have to know what you're looking at.

 

It's a die match to several of the Bulgarian fakes on this page. Definitely fake, and I've reported it to the auction house. Let's see if they withdraw it.

 

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pid=5747
There is apparently a good living to be made trashing mint state coins of the modern era trying to make them look old. Suggestion: When 'Spidey Sense' says, 'no', RUN!

Another thing: IF this were good and even in this condition, NO legitimate seller would list it at 10EUR. A left facing sestertius in basal grad is worth more than that. This one has detail that would push it over $500. In perfect shape, perhaps ten times that.

 

The problem with some of these new so called "auction houses" on biddr is just:
They are no company in any way, just a private person.
No legal registration in any ways, no European VAT no or anything similar: just a name and an address, a mobile phone, email via gmail or similar.
It is just like buying on a flea market.
To be avoided!

 

I must disagree here, at least for an auction - some dealers use the strategy of listing everything super low and letting the market decide the coin's value. This makes a lot of sense when there's no need for a reserve price, as it saves a lot of research time.

Nope, nope, nope. There is some serious vetting that goes on with biddr, which I know from personal experience.

 

I am sorry to disagree: These are no companies!
Biddr will "vet" that they get their money - thats it!

 

I run AMCC on biddr. The second thing you say, about vetting, simply isn't true. Also, I was required to submit evidence of business registration, though I agree this isn't hard to get and I'm not sure if that's an absolute requirement. In any case, there's not much benefit from being a "company" if the business owner is dishonest and transactions cross national lines. Being honest and trustworthy is what matters, and vetting is the only thing that can raise the probability of that.

I'm not saying that there aren't some problematic dealers on biddr, there may be - it's especially hard to be sure of dealers holding only their first or second auction. In particular, I think there are some whose knowledge of numismatics is not up to snuff. However there's a vast difference between buying on biddr (or VCoins) and buying at a flea market.

 

Like everybody here I think it is a fake.

 

What denomination (and weight) does the auction house give it?

 

What denomination (and weight) does the auction house give it?

 

I really don't know much, really. But the OP really has a poor style, I think, very unconvincing. Furthermore, it has that "pressed" look that seems to be cropping up more and more on eBay (and yeah, a lot of them out of Bulgaria). The sort of uniform flat disc of a flan and a shallow strike - I don't like it. So I'd agree with that tingling Spidey Sense of yours, RC.

On CT I noticed quite a few recent posts with Marc Antony legionary denarii that look like this - and I see a lot of them on eBay too. Somebody is really cranking them out. With a machine, not a hammer and anvil.

 

Agree on the fake legionary denarii. Lanz just listed another one recently. Sigh.

 

With regard to the OP, this is just a bad fake. My first impressions of many of the recent offerings from the new entries into the auction market is that the common coins are authentic, but the rarer material is invariably poorly aged replicas. I would guess the recent influx of money has something to do with this - not surprisingly..

 

..as bad as i want too, i'd ditch it RC

 

Lanz has been selling fake legionary denarii on ebay forever, but I thought he had finally started listing them openly as "copies." I'm beginning to think that he must manufacture them in his back room, like that guy Sadigh and his fake antiquities. His father must be turning over in his grave at what has become of this company.