While I dont collect fakes of any type or kind, I just felt this one was too attractive to pass up. I saw it on Ebay last year, advertised as genuine. I advised the seller what it was and he said he would probably just keep it. Yesterday he e-mailed me back and said I could buy it if I wanted it. So, I did. Obviously I dont have it in hand yet. Its a neat and attractive thing and appears to be a new variety. Feel free to post your fake, copies, fantasies, etc. antique or otherwise:
It is a very nice counterfeit! I have one Robert Ready electrotype. The original is forever unattainable so I'm more than happy with this copy, which has historical interest in its own right. KYRENAIKA, Kyrene modern copy by electrotypist Robert Ready host coin, c. 410-400 BCE, acquired by the British Museum in 1872 AR "tetradrachm", 27 mm, 16.64 gm Obv: Bearded head of Zeus-Ammon, wearing tainia with uraeus-like ornament at forehead, facing slightly left within laurel wreath Rev: silphium plant; K V P A N A (split between fields, retrograde K) Edge: initials R R Ref: BMC 77 (host coin); B.V. Head. A guide to the principal coins of the Greeks, from circ. 700 B.C. to A.D. 270. London. 1965 pl. 20, 61 (host coin); host coin BM accession number 1872,0709.361; B.V. Head. A Guide to the Select Greek and Roman Coins Exhibited in Electrotype, London. 1880. Period III C #44. The host coin is one that would be virtually impossible to obtain. A copy is the only option. This electrotype itself has historical interest so I see it as a worthwhile acquisition. In 1859 Robert Ready was hired by the British Museum to make copies of rare and noteworthy coins. Initially he replicated the coins by casting but then began using the relatively new technique of electrotyping. For a quick overview of that process, check out this animated video showing how an intricate silver vase was replicated by electrotyping. The host coin for my Kyrene electrotype tetradrachm was acquired by the British Museum in 1872. The original coin, from the BM's website: The mold for this electrotype was likely made between 1872 and 1880, since the electrotype version is cited in B.V. Head's A Guide to the Select Greek and Roman Coins Exhibited in Electrotype, London, 1880 (Period III C #44). The author notes this about the electrotyped coins chosen for this book: "This series gives at the same time a view of the finest and most interesting Greek coins in the National Collection." The replica has the maker's initials on the edge: Ready trained his sons to continue the electrotyping and such replicas were continued into the first decade of the twentieth century. At the time it was made, this electrotype could be purchased for 2s. 6d. each, which if I understand the strange British monetary system of the day, was 2.5 shillings or £0.125. After running the figures through Bank of England's inflation calculators, my purchase price was only ~1.85% more than 140 years of inflation. I calculated that to feel better about what I had to pay for it
You lucky ---! Great find. One thing I hate about CT is I can never learn the price of the coins that are posted!
Does this cast look too bad next to an original Sestertius? (no, I don´t have a good picture of the B-Sides ) If you were me, would you a) fill the vacancy in your Sestertius collection with it? b) leave it vacant c) stick with that Tarraco As d) get an old Paduan e) spend a used car´s worth on the real thing?
I'd probably go with "d", but "a" isn't a bad choice, either, if you know what you're buying. More on topic, I have seen a couple of Beckers on vcoins. They sell quickly. I've never seen a Robert Ready replica there.
Beckers have become quite collectible in their own right. I bid and failed on one CNG offered a while back that was particularly appealing to me. https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=311509 Pacatian is a very rare ruler and a coin of his would certainly be worth sacrificing a low end coin of Marcus Aurelius on which the coin was struck. Some Becker originals were copied again by Rosa and some are still in production (China?). The one below is an Akragas dekadrachm stamped "Becker" on the edge ant "copy" at obverse top but not at all close to being deceptive due to the fabric errors. I suspect Becker would be upset to know his finest fakes have dropped so low. My favorite fake is my Zenobia bronze. I believe it may have started life as a Flavian as but there has been a lot of tooling. I would love to know who and when.
I tried to buy this Becker from a recent European sale that was from Haeberlin (not the famous 1933 sale). Alas, it sold for well over my bid at 560 EUR hammer!
f) Buy a real one that is not as nice as you want. e) Find a way of collecting other than filling holes and don't worry about it. I guess the last one is close to b or c.
I have returned a few fakes I purchased over the past two years (and deleted the photos), so my only contribution is this electroplate Tet of Lebedos, Ionia purchased at FAC from the British Museum, circa 1860's:
I have only had one"fake coin".... it was a coin I got for my Christmas present when I was 10! Later, i decided to get rid of my bad quality stuff, so I consigned 40 AV coins to Stacks Auction in 1990. All were added to auction, except for the Netherlands 1897 AV 10 Gulden/Wilhelmina/ which was deemed a forgery. Pray tell, why anyone would want to fake a cheap coin like that! My Dad told me later,he picked it up at the local "coin shop".....a lesson learnt....the 1400 and counting coins in my collection, all have come via the auction process/ where they are authentic/ accurately graded
