Recently we saw a coin of Nero with Salus reverse flagged as a fake in another thread. I thought I'd show another coin of the same type that I have owned for years. As you can see, it is not a die match. It is not a fake of the same manufacturer. By now every one of you should have said, "...but it is definitely a fake!" My coin is a product of the famous faker Peter Rosa (died 1990 but retired earlier to avoid having to mark is coins 'Copy' to comply with the Hobby Protection Act). Rosa made copy dies from casts of genuine coins from the British Museum and fakes made by the 19th century master faker Karl Becker. He made copies in silver and lesser metals (lead, pot metal etc.) and other people made copies of his copies. This one is lead or another soft alloy with a wash of silver colored paint. Many of the dark spots in the photo are flat spots where the surface was deformed by pressure so they reflect light differently than the rest of the coin. I consider the thing not at all deceptive by today's standards but there was a time when Rosa's products were able to fool people who should know better (especially the ones made in real silver). Those of you who have Wayne Sayles book Classical Deception, compare mine to his #321 on page 182. There was a time that many collectors felt comfort in learning characteristics of known fakes. On this Nero, that might be the way the A and final S of SALVS overlap the ground line. Today anyone who feels 100% comfortable separating every fake might be well advised to keep up their studies. We have long passed the time when one could learn all of the details that might protect us all of the time. I do not claim to be good at separating the bad from the good but I do walk away from what I am sure are perfectly good coins just because they don't strike me just the right way. I most certainly do wonder how many of my coins that I do not suspect are also bad. What is a good number? I would be proud if it were 0.1% and might even survive a full 1%. My number of 'suspects' falls between those levels but I am perfectly capable of fooling myself. Post your known and, preferably, more dangerous fakes being sure to label them with their maker if you know it. I bought my Nero knowing it was not genuine but did not discover the Rosa link until much later. Who else has a Rosa, Becker or other name brand baddy?
Observation: It looks to me that rather than being "flat spots" they are the areas of the coin where the plating has either become worn (look at the knee) or chipped (tiny crescent at the edge).
well, fortunately, i don't have much to share here. of course, i may have a fake coin...and don't know it yet. would that be a "known unknown" in rumsfeldian? here's one thing i have that isn't made to fool anybody. it was made by the famous "readers digest".
