I tend to go through quite a few ancient coins and I'm often worried that some may be fakes. Do any of you know of a really good website that describes detecting fakes? Or how about a really good book an detecting ancient fakes? I've seen enough coins to spot the obvious ones, but the good ones elude me.
Hello, Join Forum ancient coins, there is a sub-forum dedicated to fakes, and moreover a "fake reports" gallery where you can see a lot of fakes and forgeries You can also refer to Forgery network Q
Detecting counterfeits is harder than many people think. I enjoyed this article. (Be sure to click on the answer page): http://www.severusalexander.com/Possible_copies.htm Even the experts don't agree sometimes. Unfortunately, many fakes can't be determined until the coin is in hand. Also unfortunate is the fact that forgers are getting better and better. Some people I met who were very experienced in US coinage were frequently fooled at the recent ANA summer seminar for counterfeit coins. Remember, they were examining US coins with which they have had a long experience. It would not be surprising if many people are fooled by an excellent forgery of a rare Ancient Decadrachm. I think too many collectors delude themselves on their ability to detect modern counterfeits, including Ancient collectors. g.
While I agree with the statements of the two above members, avoiding fakes is not all that hard if you follow three simple rules: 1. Consider all coins that seem too good to be true to be fake. 2. Only buy coins from people you trust until you learn enough about that coin to feel comfortable with your own abilities. 3. Realize that there are coins that are pretty certainly good, pretty certainly bad and possibly bad or good. Avoid all coins that are not pretty certainly good. You will miss on some good coins doing this but you will avoid more troubles. You may live in a society that considers a person innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Collect coins the other way: If there is reasonable doubt of their innocence, convict them (don't buy them). Coin collecting, particularly ancient coin collecting, involves a lot of study and skepticism balanced with trust. It is a poor hobby for persons unwilling to put the required work into it and a worse hobby for those who require certainty about every item.
This site is your friend. The site that hosts that also has a large coin board with a subforum on fakes and fake detection. If you plan to buy things on eBay, then this list of known sellers of fakes will be invaluable.
Ah fakes, what a wonderful topic. There are a few reasonably priced books out there, (I am thinking Classical Deception and Not Kosher), and a few books on die studies of fakes. Nothing really comprehensive though. The only almost surefire way of avoiding them is to study the coins you are interested in, learn what makes an ancient coin. Nothing beats a good reference book and handling hundreds or thousands of coins. While internet boards are wonderful, and posting pictures here of coins will greatly help you out and advance your knowledge, I would add one caveat that is really only for ancients. Please do not take everything you read on the internet as gospel. Another collector may be well meaning, but he may have only have limited knowledge of a certain area. If you post a coin that is different, they may label it a fake when in fact it is just a scarcer issue or something they haven't seen yet. This has come up frequently in Yahoo groups where coins get condemned quickly sometimes. It really is hard to KNOW a coin is a fake from a photograph. However, if you post something and we can help you diagnose and determine for yourself if it is a fake. I hope this helps. Oh, and avoid sellers in China! Lol. Actually I have a link to a small group of sellers on Ebay that do sell real coins if you are interested in Chinese coins.
I think this site is very good for information about fake coin and types of them: http://www.calgarycoin.com/reference/fakes/fakes.htm
