Hello, I have bought some silver denarius 2 years ago, and I am doubtful about their authenticity. Regarding to the denarius of IVLIA MAMAEA, a collector told me that it was made in Bulgaria by master Slavey, who is the best forger in the world. These three coins are from independent sellers, nevertheless I am doubtful about the other two too. What is your opinion about these three coins based on the photos? Thanks for any help and comment!
While the surface of Severus and Mamaea looks suspecious, antonine coins were made in huge quantities and lots of them are still popping up in Eastern Europe, so I'm pretty sure the coin of Commodus is real.
I would agree with @JayAg47... the Commodus coin looks real, and the other two may also be genuine from a style perspective, although the surfaces are a bit troubling.
Fake coins in Bulgaria ?? is the Pope Catholic ? I would never buy a coin from Bulgaria, Russia or China
You can tell a Slavey by style alone. I don't think these are Slaveys. I think they're all likely genuine, but poorly preserved and of low value.
Thank you! Not ony the surface but the style is also suspicious for me. Here is my other genuine coin, and the style is basically difference
There are many professional fakes of Ivlia Mamaea, and the style of mine is somewhat more similar to these, than to an original one - I feel so. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=44&pos=528 https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=44&pos=524
Cast fakes will have the style of an original, as an original has been used to create the cast. It will however have the look of a fake, as the surfaces look different on a cast vs struck coin. That said, I agree that the second link looks dangerously close to your coin. The pics aren’t sharp enough for my eyes to make out any differences though.
Nobody should ever buy coins from China/ Russia/ Romania/ Bulgarian sources. That said, why would this "expert" fake "worn" common Roman denari? I am sure there is more profit in Gordian I/ II Denari or Aurei
True, but buyers study those coins intensely. It’s easier to get away with cheap, common denarii. If 3 identical looking Gordian I/II coins would be observed over 2 years, the game would be up. Meanwhile, you can sell 20 identical looking common coins over the same 2 years, with few eyebrows raised.
I don't like the surface of that Julia Mamaea. The edges of the M also reach the edge of the coin, could that be a sign of casting?
There are fakes in all levels of the market. A relatively small but significant percentage of common mid-grade denarii in the marketplace are fakes. Dealers and collectors who regularly bid on job lots of denarii tend to moderate their bids by a certain factor to allow for the inevitable clunkers. There are some very good books under the series title Coin Collections and Coin Hoards in Bulgaria (CCCHBulg) dealing with modern forgeries of ancient coins, including forensics. The series also includes catalogs of important collections in Bulgaria. Most are available as both print editions and as free PDF downloads. A number of them can be found here: https://independent.academia.edu/IlyaProkopov
Many metal detectors harshly clean these. You often identify a coin as being dug up in the Balkans by the harsh surfaces left behind thanks to a strong chemical bath
I agree. It just doesn't make sense that someone would go to the trouble of creating a fake coin, and then make it look as if it was at the bottom of a dumpster for nearly 2,000 years. Since coins that appear to be nearly fresh from the mint have much more appeal, it seems to me that the incentive for fakers is to make coins with such an appearance. I have seen many, many fake tetradrachms of all stripes coming out of Bulgaria and offered through eBay by sellers, some with long track records foisting these coins on the public. These coins all have the same greyish color, mushy detail, poor attempts to mimic the correct element style, porosity, dubious edges, and bad lettering that don't fool experienced collectors, but do entice novice collectors to make some bad purchases. Without exception, based on my experience, these coins are presented as clean and blemish-free, and almost uniform in appearance within the coin type, hardly any variation, which should be a double or triple alarm bell for a collector of ancients.
