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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Quant.Geek, post: 3283184, member: 74799&quot;]A proper response is at hand to decipher this enigma.&nbsp; There are several ways of determining whether these coins are imitation or not, but unfortunately, nothing is foolproof.&nbsp; The Bulgarian imitations typically have tin mixed in as opposed to silver, like the original trachea, so, without a metallurgical analysis, we need to rely on clues in the coin itself.&nbsp; The primary identification is the loros on the reverse of the coin.&nbsp; In the original coinage, the loros is always different between the Emperor and the saint:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/36484/Sear-2011.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]868011[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The official coinage have the following known loros, with three different types for the emperor and only one known for the Saint:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://glebecoins.net/paleos/Articles/The_Bulgarian___Latin_Imitativ/Alexius_III_Waistbands.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>For majority of the imitations, the loros are always identical. So, going back to [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] coin, we see:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]868013[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>which is clearly the same, hence, an imitation.&nbsp; Another clue to this enigma, is the nimbate saint in the original coin:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]868015[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Majority of the imitations do not have this.&nbsp; Unfortunately, it is not clear in the aforementioned example, so here is one from mine:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/36484/774_xlarge_42f785f22a2d3ed4dd77258ad2345fc8.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]868018[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>There are other clues, but this is the two prominent ones.&nbsp; Hope this helps...</p><p><br /></p><p>QG[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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