The last few years have seen so many fakes after late roman and migration perriod rarities coming to surface and unfortunately the same "workshop" or workshops are venturing into medieval (especially Carolingian) coins. They all have in common the texture and probably composition of the flan and the overall appearance. These products have made some appearances here on the forum -- see here and here for instance. And take a look through the listings here of late roman, early byzantine and germanic "coins": Odoacer, Theodosius II, Iohannes, Libius Severus, Theodahad, all made by the same hand and with the same tools.
Might want to avoid anything looking like this. The first giveaway is the crispness and the shine of the metal. But some might have been put through an artificial patiantion process, if so then the next clue is the style of the portrait and the lettering.
eBay has been a boon for fake peddlers. You guys keep enabling it by buying on eBay then complaining you got a fake. I understand there's some genuine coins to be found here or there, but there's a reason the fake peddlers are doing so well over there. I honestly think if it wasn't for eBay, the fakes market would be less than a quarter the size of what it is now.
"You guys" ? This post is meant to help people avoid a distinctive brand of fakes, not to "enable" anything, least of all dealers of fake coins.
Fact is these have been branching out outside ebay and at least one got its way from an otherwise reputed auction house to the collection of one of the members here. So steering clear of ebay is clearly not enough.
Seth, Here is another article of fakes that are commonly seen on ebay. Most are coming from UK sellers. The plates give examples of real and then fake. https://www.academia.edu/37247782/Contemporary_Counterfeit_Coins_of_the_Crusader_States
I know, I posted that on the thread about the "Galla Placidia" back then. I think there is a network of forgers who started small but in force -- as far as I can remember that "Eraric monogram" sold for many hundreds of dollars -- and now they are regularly just pushing them out there every time a new batch is ready.
If somebody hasn't already, should start submitting to Forvm or forgery network. I feel I should make a page dedicated to these on my site for new collectors when I have the time.
I know nothing about medieval coins, but those OPs look obviously fake to me. It is indeed alarming that such material is being faked, but, not to give pointers to counterfeiters, they ought to rub a little dirt on them! Which brings me to eBay - if you want to eliminate a vast number of fakes in your searches, limit things to North America (a click of a button). The majority of fakes I see seem to be coming out of Eastern Europe - loads of sestertii, all with the same poison-green "patina" and round flans have been abundant lately. I look through all North American eBay auctions about every day and really, I just don't see that many fakes. The fakes I do see are the usual suspects - Tribute Pennies, outlandishly pristine Syracuse tetra-whatevers, rare emperors uncirculated, etc. I hardly pay attention to this junk, although I can see how a new collector might find the situation baffling. This being said, I buy cheap, low-grade stuff. This kind of material does get faked sometimes, but not often. The high-end stuff is much riskier (on eBay and anywhere else), so maybe at that level, eBay is a dangerous place to shop. But for now, I remain a happy eBay "enabler." Some recent eBay finds, all cheap - all, as far as I can tell, genuine:
They are very off and unlikely for those who are familiar with the period, striking techniques, alloys used usw. But not everyone is familiar.
