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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3619087, member: 19463&quot;]A few coins that are less than official.&nbsp; I do not consider it appropriate to use the term fake for some categories.</p><p><br /></p><p>Made about the same time as the official coins are fourrees with a thin silver layer over a copper core.&nbsp; They were made to circulate alongside the real thing at face value.&nbsp; This Athenian tetradrachm was cut in half to expose the deception below. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]969736[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Some unofficial coins possibly made of lesser quality alloy&nbsp; circulated at face value.&nbsp; Some were counterfeits made to circulate along with real coins but some were made to circulate in places where the real coins did not exist in sufficient quantity to support commerce so the locals made their own money of necessity.&nbsp; It is not always easy to know which unofficial coin is which.&nbsp; Generally, we believe the ones with better metal were made to provide spendable money.&nbsp; This Indian (I&#039;m told a hoard was found there) denarius of Tiberius types would fool no one familiar with the coin but the silver is fully equal to the regular mint coins.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]969737[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Compared to the Tiberius above this Septimius Severus denarius has somewhat poor silver but might have fooled some people c.200 AD some of the time.&nbsp; It would not fool a modern collector who had studied the period. Was it counterfeit or money of necessity?&nbsp; IDK</p><p>[ATTACH=full]969742[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>In the Renaissance and early modern era there was a demand for collectible Roman coins of rare emperors.&nbsp; Some newly manufactured medals were sold as replicas while some were passed off as genuine to rich collectors who did not know better.&nbsp; I have no idea which this is.&nbsp; The coin copies the Divus Pertinax sestertius.&nbsp; Such old fakes now have a collectible value of their own but not as much as the real coins.&nbsp; It seems that fakes a couple hundred years old become art. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]969745[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>There are out and out fakes made to deceive collectors of ancient coins.&nbsp; Cheating tourists is big business in some parts of the world while coin collectors require a slightly better level of fake.&nbsp; The coin below is a fake and was sold by a trustworthy seller of ancient coins. When told of the fake ststus, that seller refunded the cost of the coin and let me keep it for my &quot;Black Museum&quot;.&nbsp; I do not collect fakes intentionally but I appreciate the opportunity to study them at any chance.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]969779[/ATTACH] </p><p>There are several other categories of fake, replica, modified or otherwise deceptive ancient coins.&nbsp; People interested in collecting ancient coins (or anything else, for that matter) are advised either to know the coin or to know the seller.&nbsp; Relatively few beginners heed this advice and but things on faith from people they do not know.&nbsp; Some get away with this a good percentage of the time.&nbsp; Some will acquire ten fakes in their first ten attempts. Those who do heed the advice may still get an occasional fake but, like with the last coin shown above, the honest seller will refund the cost of the coin. We each have to decide what level of error is acceptable to us.&nbsp; Those requiring no error ever are advised to find another hobby.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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