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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TIF, post: 3001499, member: 56859&quot;]I believe just the opposite is true.</p><p><br /></p><p>Creating a coin that looks worn, or artificially aging a fake, is a very common practice intended to camouflage signs of the coin being fake.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, and importantly, high grade coins are more likely to pass through the hands of experts who are far more likely to detect inauthenticity.</p><p><br /></p><p>While fakes can be found in every cost bracket of this hobby, the bread and butter of fraudsters seems to be the low end coins which can be foisted onto eBay customers who lack adequate experience to know the difference and who assume that there is inadequate profit to be made faking low-end coins.&nbsp; It&#039;s much harder to produce a fake that is good enough to pass through ancient coin auction houses undetected.</p><p><br /></p><p>Many of the examples linked in the first post of this thread fall into another category altogether.&nbsp; They are <i>so</i> bad, <i>so</i> poorly done (style-wise, particularly), that they may not have been produced with the intent to deceive but as tourist trinkets.&nbsp; It is unfortunate that such coins often end up on eBay, sold to uneducated buyers by unscrupulous sellers such as the notorious &quot;noahs_ark_usa&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>It is easy to artificially age a coin.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, it is worth their time and it&#039;s why there is an abundance of low-end fakes on eBay.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Some fakes are struck (or pressed) rather than cast, so flan cracks alone do not ensure authenticity.&nbsp; Some fakes are even struck onto ancient coin culls, so the metal may be correct.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Tooling, when present, is generally found on coins which are <i>authentic</i>, not on fakes (unless by &quot;tooling&quot; you mean modification of a wax intermediary prior casting a fake made from an authentic coin).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, here are some examples:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=55135.0;all" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=55135.0;all" rel="nofollow">http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=55135.0;all</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The coins shown there are all modern fakes.&nbsp;&nbsp; Notice the very realistic multi-hued patinas, flan cracks, etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s another illuminating Forum thread showing some more fakes of common coins:</p><p><a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=53852.0" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=53852.0" rel="nofollow">http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=53852.0</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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