From A to Z, and Orange to Yellow

@Bob L.

I've submitted your post and pics to a friend of mine specialized in parthian coinage (he runs the parthika.fr website). He's been very interested but his not self confident enough in english that he could post an answer himself, thus asking me to do on his behalf.

He too thinks all those are fake, and as an addition to convince everybody, provides two pictures of coins "minted" for Sinatruces and Mithradates II sharing the same reverse die with those you've shown

Strange enough to find a same reverse die for three different kings in a period of time of no less than 70 years, isn't it ?




Hope that helps the understanding of everyone here

Q

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Thanks for the comment. Always good to have Alwin's endorsement. Looks like collectors of Parthian drachms will need to be on the lookout for those reverses.

 

There were at least two ther examples from that second obverse die (with the flower in the hat) that were also removed.

 

Thanks for your posts on this, Aethelred! I'd like to make a point to mention that we are referring to the first Z on the list. Z number 2 on the list is very reputable.

 

Erin,

I think that most of his merchandise is good except for his process of repatinating his coins. The cast Parthians is a recent issue resulting from careless attention to his inventory.

Also

The second Z company on the VCOINS pull down list is very reputable and should not be confused with the first Z dealer.

 

Thanks Deacon Ray. That's a big relief! It's too bad there are issues with his coins, though.

That other Z company is great! My brother got his Julius Caesar elephant denarius from him.

Erin

 

I had a student who was receiving an award, which is usually accompanied by a gift from the teacher. The student was interested in Ancient Egypt, so I bought a Ptolemy II from this seller - I knew of the issues, but it was cheap and within the budget allotted by the school. The more I thought about it though, the less I could allow myself to give a problem Coin away as a means to introduce someone to the hobby. Now I'm stuck with it and not sure what to do with it... (I'd love an example some day, but not so keen on the fake patina and possible BD...):

 

A and Z have been doing this for years. "A" is pretty well known for his artificial patination. On a side note, there was an article in National Geographic last year that mentioned him.

 

Look at Z's new items page ... show's no sign of stopping.

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/zu...countitems=386&changeDisplayList=False&page=1

Are those silver dirhams counterfeit and fake patina? He sure has a lot of them

 

They look weird to me. I can't say for sure if they are fake or not, but the weird distribution of flat spots in the coins' faces made me suspicious. However, the yellow desert patina on the silver dirhams is the last straw, unless you want to believe he just magically found some really poorly struck (almost crude) silver dirhams with the same fake desert patina he applies to all his crappy bronze coins.

Why does Vcoins continue to allow this BS? I am boycotting Vcoins until they get serious. By allowing a dealer to compromise the sites' integrity, they are calling into question the integrity of the rest of the site.

Regardless of whether these be real or fake, the fact his silver is now becoming infected with the same yellow desert patina. Vcoins, where are you?

 

I thought Vcoins made him make a note that his coins had fake patina?

Here is a London Mint Constantine II with desert patina from the world famous Great Desert of England. You know, they say it's even bigger than the Gobi Desert.

He added it to the site this week, and no mention in the description of the crappy patina job.

This is just too much!

 

Note he has started including 'AS FOUND' in some of the titles of the listings ie if a desert patina coin doesn't say that, he is making a very round-a-bout admission to tampering with the coin.

Also note he hasn't yet been bold enough to include 'AS FOUND' in the titles of any of his desert patina silvers.

'AS FOUND' designation aside, all the desert patinas look eerily simillar - safe to say 99.99% of these coins are tampered.

VCoins needs to lifetime ban this guy already.

 

I agree, certainly as far as the bronzes go. He has, in some cases, reduced the tampering to a dusting...but, yeah, he still seems to be regularly working the inventory. I wish he had more respect for both the coins and his customers.

 

I get the impression this has become a pathological compulsion ... the funny thing is he actually has a whole bunch of great, relatively cheap coins that people would otherwise purchase. This seller is his own worst enemy.

 

people are purchasing them...he has sold 18,680 items

 

True, but the word is out. I've only been into ancient coins for a couple of weeks and I'm already aware this seller is a fraud. Fraud may be extremely profitable in the short term, but it isn't a sustainable business model.

 

welcome to the hobby...but the word has been out for years.

 

Dear Bob
why you don't buy that coin that you stated it has a fake patina ?
if you find it is fake I will give you $500 plus you can keep the coin.
best regards.
Athena Numismatics

 

I do have tens of thousands of coins with this red earthen patina, and indeed it is natural patina , as a member here , if you buy a coin and the patina is fake and it wasent stated as applied in the description , you can keep it for free, and will get a full refund.
best regards.
Athena Numismatics