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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 3367509, member: 24314&quot;]First, let me say that the &quot;art&quot; of counterfeiting <b>all coins</b> has come a long way in the last six or so decades.&nbsp; So much so that even the &quot;experts&quot; can be deceived for a while.&nbsp; Some here may remember the Ionian Obol controversy from the past.&nbsp; Around that time I was working for a US/Ancient coin dealer.&nbsp; I was of the opinion the coins were counterfeits.&nbsp; Folks way above my expertise were on both sides of the fence.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In my humble opinion, there is one main reason the field of ancient numismatics has become a &quot;minefield.&quot;&nbsp; Obviously, the fabric of these coins is important yet; except for myself, I&#039;VE <span style="color: #b30000"><i><b>NEVER</b></i>, <b><i>EVER</i></b> </span>SEEN A COIN DEALER EXAMINE AN ANCIENT COIN USING A STEREO MICROSCOPE!!!&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Some may remember the wonderful comment I received in the Ancient Forum a while back concerning my authentication skills concerning ancients.&nbsp; There are reasons for my reputation that even the person who testified to my ability never knew. </p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;m not as good with these coins today as I used to be.&nbsp; Unfortunately, since the late 1990&#039;s, you could fit all the ancients I&#039;ve closely examined in a double row box.&nbsp; Sadly, I&#039;m out of the loop. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> I&#039;ve missed the passing years of better fakes.&nbsp; I&#039;ll never know what my opinion would have been if I were to examine one of these in hand at NGC. </p><p><br /></p><p>I miss the challenge of going up against both the Ancient dealers and the counterfeiters. The Internet, TPGS, and impounded collections are your best friend.&nbsp; Coins as this should never be authenticated by eye alone.&nbsp; We all know that an analysis of their composition may no longer be foolproof either.&nbsp; Unfortunately, the faker only needs to make ONE COPY of a rare and valuable coin as this to make it a little easier to fool the experts.&nbsp; We are lucky to have the TPGS, even though they are not always correct.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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