Post your Fakes here

1. I took a few more pictures of the edge of the coin, showing where the seam runs around the whole circumference. If not a casting seam, what do you think it may be?
   
   
   
   
   

These look more suspicious, especially the one at the top. Generally, any C/F ancient that is passed as genuine has the seam filed off. There may be filing on #2 and #3 part of the edge. I have never seen an edge like #1 so..... If I worked at NGC we should do a little research, check the weight and microscopic surface, try a consultant or two and either return as genuine or no decision due to divided opinions. I'm still not convinced it is C/F.

@ Berry Murphy May have other ideas if he has a chance to reply.

 

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While it makes me happy that I do not have either the Septimius or the Julia fakes, it bothers me that I did not know about them. Of course I have bought very few Severans in the last decade (since Martin has been buying them all) so these may be new products. It bothers me more that Martin says:

but I have not seen or noted any.

Being light is a common feature of Eastern denarii so I'm not sure how significant that is. Of course I guess all my light ones could be fakes but overall I did not see these mints being terribly consistent on weight. I have the obverse die on a Spes reverse bought in 1996 which I had never questioned.


The Clodius is a well documented fake but the number of dies and minor style differences on these scarce Alexandria coins from so many dies makes me wonder if we should address the possibility that the whole type is fake. Considering the number of Alexandria coins seen before 1990 and the number of new ones since then, I worry about the lot of them.

 

Bought this early in my ancient collecting career. As I got more experience, I realized it was fake and returned it a few years later. The benefits of buying from reputable dealers.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what was the thing that tipped you off this was a fake?

 

I am curious too as I would have believed it to be an Antioch issue coin based on style.

 

Ditto. What are the diagnostics.
Perhaps the price went up and he was delighted to get it back at the old price!

 

It's hard to describe. It doesn't look right in hand and it doesn't feel right - it's slick. I'm not 100% sure but I think it was cast and tooled. It looks corroded from the photo and but doesn't really look corroded in hand; it simply looks very strange especially the fields. I immediately thought that when I got the coin, but didn't know enough about ancients to know it might not be right. I took it to a coin show to show some dealers and they agreed. When I finally showed it to the dealer from whom I bought it (large, European auction house), he immediately shook his head and apologized to me. He said that should have never been sold by them and acted surprised it was. I had a check mailed to me a few weeks later.

I'm no expert on Elagabalus and don't know if there are stylistic issues with this coin, but it definitely wasn't "right" in hand.

**edited** and the edges were worked on significantly if I remember correctly.

 

Here are some if mine. After looking at all of these, I think I'll stay away from Romans and Greeks for a while...



The bottom-right coin is genuine.



I patinated these myself!



The bottom coin is genuine.

 

In manufacturing, we always have to test random sampling of product. This is so that the product passes industry standards as well as legal requirements. For some product, weather testing and long term stress analysis needs to be performed. Some tests involved putting a product into a weather chamber to age or stress the materials and see their potential effects after a longer period of time. I suspect that many "aged" or "antiqued" items may had been put into these test chambers during their down times.

 

Interesting thread, and reading it from time to time will be educationnal to many (including me)

My fake Hannibaliannus


Hannibaliannus, AE 3 struck in Constantinople in 336 AD
FL ANNIBALLIANO REGI, Draped and cuirassed bust of Hannibalianus right
SE - CVRITAS PVBLICA, Euphrate lying left, leaning on a sceptre. CONS at exergue
2.46 gr
Ref : Cohen #2, RC #3935, LRBC #1035

And the the discussion about it at Forvm : http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=42890.0

Q

 

Cast and Seemed 'off'? no doubt, sold as a Paduan coin.

 

I'm starting to think it's fake or fourree? Was it Nero that was robbing the bank making cheap coins? Maybe it's one of them? Looks like clad break and rust to me and maybe cast seam. Auction site description: BIP and I (dates) to upper left. McAlee 265b. Prieur 89. RPC I 4189

 

pick bin finds

 

After examining the example at the major auction house you mentioned on a previous thread, my humble opinion is that it is genuine and 'debased' and I see no photo indications that it is a 'cast fake', although the 'chemists' among us can better explain the 'rust spot' than I can.

Hopefully @maridvnvm, @dougsmit etc can chime in and offer their far more 'expert' opinion and explanation.

 

Make sure the colored area is not just a deposit on a break in the surface. Lots of old silver gets colored areas that look like places where the silver is worn away. A simple specific gravity test will tell.

 

Yeah, this was a frustration for me...