Panic! Is my other Caracalla Sestertius also a cast?

Thank you for stating this. I'm new to ancients and have noticed that this forum is eager to help and point folks like myself toward the right sellers, but the majority is afraid to point out bad sellers. I think it's a necessary evil to call a spade a spade. I'm not saying we need a list, but I am saying, maybe we need a list.

 

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1. No. If one of the upper group of experts has accepted a coin, I doubt others would find otherwise. I personally dislike their little plastic coffins but David Vagi and Barry Murphy are way up there on the list of people whose opinions I would value on a level equal with David Sear.

2. More? Maybe not but there are several people who are up on that level and many more whose opinion is great in some areas if not in every specialty. We go back to the old matter of buying coins from people you trust until you are willing to trust yourself for some purchases. This might take a few decades to come and those who plan on buying expensive coins that are frequently faked may want to stick with the safe method for the duration.

3. How much extra would you be willing to pay for a money back guarantee from a third party authenticator? Whose word would you accept as final judgement on the opinions of either Sear or NGC? You can't expect them to pay off a mistake based on the word of some guy on Coin Talk.

 

i have a canadian penny with pits in it ive found a few coins like this what is causing the error???

 

i have found a few coins with small gouges , pits, or indents in them what is causing these errors im curious????

 

Gonna need better images than that. I can't make out any detail.

 

It depends on the "experts". Showing a coin on a forum like this is not the answer. It must be examined in hand by an expert. However, if you have doubts, it's best to return a coin and move on. BTW, David Sear is highly respected by most everyone including me. But that's not to say he can't make a mistake just like any expert.

 

Having a coin examined by David Sear or most any other expert is usually proof enough for a reputable dealer/auction house. The problem comes when you have to pay for the expert's opinion. Do you have to shoulder the cost or does the dealer?

 

I purchased this Titus sestertius, that had a great provenance, though a Swiss auction house - very reputable, about 2 yrs ago. I was pleased until I discovered another one EXACTLY like it on a German auction site on sixbid several months later. I notified the auction house from which I obtained the coin, and to their credit they e-mailed me back immediately with appologies and ruturned all my money. Both I (in English ) and they (in German) notified the second auction house now offering my coin's identical twin for auction. They did respond to me and to the Swiss stating to the effect that no matter how diligent one can be accidents and slip throughs can still happen. But to my surprize and horror, their fake coin remained in their auction and sold for around 2000 euros!!! Caveat Emptor.

 

@ Octavius

Weight of your coin and how does rim / edge looks like ?

1.The Titus sold at German auction could be authentic mother used to create a casting mould, which then was used to cast your coin.
2.Or maybe your coin is authentic mother and the other coin sold at auction is a cast fake.
3. Or both coins are cast fakes and the authentic mother is still out there somewhere

If you find twins it is clear that at least one of them must be a cast or electrotype fake but you should be careful because one of them could be authentic mother and yes both could be cast fakes too if the authentic mother is still out there unrecognized.

 

There are more Titus twins, it is possible that one of them is authentic mother

Yours, obolos 23,56g

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2529460

Lanz 23,84g

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5059950

Gorny 22,33 g

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=165589

UBS Gold & Numismatics 23,28g

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=498964

 

The fake Caracalla sestertius posted by JG would fool only a novice collector or a tourist. The fake Titus sestertius posted by octavius is in a totally different class, it is a dangerous fake that could fool most collectors. The fact that it wasn't pulled by the German auction house is disconcerting. The links posted by Lolli are valuable research that illustrate top quality fakes can still be unmasked. The fact remains that top quality fakes are out there & are getting better, good enough to fool the top tier of experts. One that I'll never forget is the beautiful Athenian Decadrachm that appeared in the Gemini VIII auction nearly 8 years ago, see photo below. The coin looked too good to be true (and this was the case ) & fooled two of the top experts, Harlan Berk & David Vagi. When a twin did appear shortly before the auction Harlan Berk honorably pulled the coin from the auction. Before discovering the twin the only thing that could have triggered any suspicion was the fact that this coin didn't match any known die linkage to other specimens.

 

Lolli, such fantastic research, thanks. That second coin in your list was the one I spotted as being identical and tried unsuccessfully to have withdrawn.