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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3162732, member: 19463&quot;]There is room for discussion on whether Becker was a great artist or a scoundrel.&nbsp; As I recall the details of the story he sold sets of his coins as replicas but was also known to try to fool experts who were on his list of people who needed to be brought down a notch.&nbsp; I can not find my reference right now but I believe he got started after being cheated with a fake coin which drove him to return the favor to that seller.&nbsp;&nbsp; Does anyone have that story in mind?&nbsp; There is a book on him:</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01A0BN2EE/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=used&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01A0BN2EE/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=used&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" rel="nofollow">https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01A0BN2EE/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&amp;condition=used&amp;qid=&amp;sr=</a></p><p><br /></p><p>The big thing about Beckers, just like the Paduans, is there are fakes of the original fakes and then fakes of the fakes of the fakes.&nbsp; Becker&#039;s products were made by associates immediately after his death and by Peter Rosa sometime later.&nbsp; Today there are (not very deceptive) Chinese replicas stamped copy in the field and Becker on the edge. Original fakes of the original master sell well, I believe, for good reason. </p><p><br /></p><p>Should we be collecting the better makers of fakes from more modern times?&nbsp; We hear a lot about Slavey and some of his works are excellent.&nbsp; Others strike me as not at all dangerous.&nbsp; Part of the problem is he made coins from the same old silver coins despite the correct alloy for the coin being copied.&nbsp; I bought a few at $4 apiece 20 years ago when they were easy to find but none are really dangerous to anyone with any experience with the originals.</p><p><br /></p><p>Becker, fake of fake of fake in pot metal - struck from the original dies rather than being a cast of a cast of a copy, would this design fool you?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]812328[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Slavey Caligula - deceptive unless you have ever seen a real one?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]812329[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Slavei Pescennius Niger - Note the fabric is like the Caligula while originals of the two are nothing alike.&nbsp; No genuine Pescennius has this good silver.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]812330[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Black Sea Hoard Mesembria&nbsp; hemiobol fakes fooled a lot of people 30 years ago.&nbsp; I still have a special sale insert offering these for $265 in 1989.&nbsp; They are less today.&nbsp; What is fair?&nbsp; I wish I had bought an example of the Apollonia type when they were available but $5 seemed like a lot to pay for a fake.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]812331[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Many collectors of ancients have a &#039;Black Museum&#039; with things they were glad did not fool them or wish they had known then what they know now. Education is expensive and not all education comes from books.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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