Hello everybody! I'm fairly new to collecting ancients! Its very exciting, I love the history and art involved but at the same time I've also become a bit paranoid about some of my items being counterfeit, once I realized how common it is! I'm especially doubting some of the first items I purchased before I learned not to be buy on ebay. I was having trouble finding somebody locally to take a look at my collection, so I was really hoping some people here could help me out! I'll try not to overload you, so here's two I've kind of been questioning. A velia and rhodes stater. The thing that gets me is how smooth the edges look. The edges of all my other coins have cracks and imperfections, but not these. What do you think!? Are they genuine? Much appreciated. Thanks! The Velia is 6.8 grams and the rhodes is 6.55g. Not sure if its allowed to share the seller name here?? I didn't see it in rules, so it was everlastingcoins on ebay. I trusted him until I saw recently a septimius severus denarius that looked very fake to me, which is what got me questioning these in the first place. If this is not allowed... please let me know and I can delete this part!!
Welcome. Your coins’ denominations are referred to as Didrachms. The weights are within the correct range. As for authenticity... It’s hard to tell with the pics alone. Nothing instantly jumps out to me as them not being legit. I generally am suspicious of AR coins with this sort of condition/appearance on eBay. In fact, I’m suspicious of most all loose AR coins on eBay that are offered by random sellers — IE. not among those that have established themselves as reliable eBay sellers — whose primary focus is selling ancient coins. It’s oft stated... “Know the coin, or know the seller” Looking ‘Everlasting Coins’ up, I see on their website that they claim to specialize in Japanese coins. However, looking at their eBay seller’s relatively limited* history, it appears that they have also sold a handful of Greek ancients over the last few months. *The seller’s eBay account is only two year’s old Looking at some of them... The bronzes seem to look OK, but a few of the silvers look a little suspect. When the fabric of a coin has a pocked/pitted appearance, I take pause - I liken it to how a pancake’s underside may look cratered from the trapped air bubbles while it was cooking. Is it natural environmental corrosion on the coin’s surface, or is it a sign of casting bubbles? This one seems a little suspicious for example: There are a few others that make the hair on my neck stand up. Like this one: I can’t definitively state whether your coins are authentic or not, nor whether or not all of the seller’s offerings stand out as absolute obvious fakes, but I get enough of a “Hmmmm?” vibe from the seller that would make me personally want to take a pass. It deserves noting that this is solely my opinion alone. The seller’s coins very well all could be authentic. They might simply be really crummy photos - hence the off-shade toning, and perhaps poor contrasting that highlights insignificant dimpling in the fabric of the coin. My mantra is that there are ‘plenty of these types in the sea’. None of these types of coins are scarce by any means. Many of these are available from dealers or regularly and frequently come up for auction at varying rates of condition from poor to excellent. There is nothing absolutely remarkable about these coins over any others of a similar condition...coins that are hammering for like prices at known and verifiably reputable numismatic auction houses. I’m sure my post here does very little to put you at ease about your coins’ authenticity. Feeling enough at ease about one’s acquisitions is one of the gambles one has to be willing to take if buying coins off of eBay. My advice is, if your ‘Spidey-sense’ is tingling, it’s best to pass. Presume that all sellers on eBay are fake-sellers until shown to be satisfactorily and reasonably sure otherwise. One is likely to acquire a few fakes in one’s lifetime of collecting. It goes with the territory. Chalk ‘em up as learning lessons. Hopefully not expensive ones. Most longtime collectors maintain a so-called ‘black cabinet’. I actually remember looking at the below coin that this same seller had listed a couple of months ago. It was one that I had considered bidding on. It’s a type that I’ve had on my radar for some time now. The coin looks legit to me. Yet, something about it didn’t feel right enough for me to be confident about it. I think it may have been my weariness towards the seller. I skipped bidding on it. I’ll get another chance at a different coin at some point.
Thanks for your honesty! Yeah I was originally calling them di-drachms until I kept seeing people calling them staters so I switched and just assumed they were somewhat interchangeable. So I'm officially confused on that front? Lol I definitely don't buy on ebay anymore. Now I go to vcoins, ma-shops and some proper auction houses. Where I got an owl and alex lifetime tet. Super excited about those! Anyway I still have a lot of anxiety about some of those early ebay purchases. I dont know what to do with them, I'm happy with them, but I don't want counterfeits in my collection. Maybe I'll try again to find a local professional to check them out? and return them based on what he/she finds? Again I really appreciate your input. Do you mind if I post one other on here I'm on the fence about? or should I make a new thread for that??
Not only is it allowed, but you are encouraged to share the names of any dealers whom you like and trust along with any dealers whom you suspect of being dishonest or selling fakes. CT member Valentinian maintains a list of known eBay sellers of fake coins: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/fakesellers.html Another ancient coin website--Forum Ancient Coins, run by Joe Sermarini--has complied another list of known fake coin sellers: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=18502.0 and example, with photos, of known fake coins: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/ While it is never possible to confirm a coin is legitimate from a photo, in many instances it is possible to condemn one as fake. I don't see anything in the photos of your coins that would make me think they were fakes.
Thanks for the resources! When I did buy on ebay I would always check the fake sellers list first. I have an account on forumancients too. But I know its not always enough. really a shame how those sellers go so far as to constantly change their usernames and what not. and its a shame ebay does next to nothing to control this. Think how many people get duped every day by unscrupulous sellers. Its a tragedy really. This hobby would be a lot of more enjoyable for beginners if they didn't have to navigate this minefield of greedy people.
