Ancients Easier to Counterfeit

EXACTLY.
Can you imagine all that work of making a denarius... just to discard the die after copying it a limited number of times? It would be too impractical to do so.

 

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Funny- he just posted here on this thread! I don't think he is a shill working for these fake sellers if that's what you mean. I think he is only like many newbies just developing a sense of what quality ancient coins and artifacts look and feel like. Most of the old timers here have probably got to see and handle real high end ancient museum quality beauties. that experience and many years hones your appreciation for the good stuff. You develop your own tastes but also gain a sense for what is not good. I think that poster is truly searching for one of those rare treasures that the seller himself on ebay or elsewhere does not know he has. Many here have posted those unexpected windfalls but they are rare. He still is only beginning to develop a true discernment and aesthetic for good stuff. he should look through TIF's collection or some others here like Valentinian, Roman Collector, Doug Smith and Ed Snible....and several others. That of course is just my opinion anyway. You have to start studying fine coins to get a taste for them. Ebay is not the place to do that.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. The absolutely best way I know of gaining "the eye" is simply perusing good auction firms and looking at hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of good coins. After time, especially in areas in which appeal to you, you develop a subconscious feel of what a good coin looks like. Fakes quickly stop your eye long before your mind knows what is wrong.

That is why for ancients I cannot simply peruse ancient coins. Way too many stops, and it is simply too tiring. Plus, you run the risk of training your eye to those coins and forgetting why they are fake. I usually stick to a list of good sellers I have on Ebay, and avoid it otherwise.

Collecting should be relaxing and enjoyable, not slogging through piles and piles of fakes.