I had recently picked up a few ancient coins cheaply. While looking through them and discovering the history of these coins I ran across some sites stating there are a lot of counterfeits. This made me look more closely at the coins I got. I'm not an ancient coin collector so I really don't know if these are real or not. Here are a few pics, any help would be great thanks. The first thing I noticed is the coin very clean and pretty shiny. And here you can see a line running around the edge. Also have another one, the edge is cracked and I can see the inside is silvery in color.
Being shiny and clean does not raise any alarms, but its a rare coin and the line on the edge definitely raise some concern. Hard to tell with the pics, and I don't know much about his coinage to say either way but I'm sure someone here can tell. Whats the size and weight? Didius Julianus Æ Sestertius. IMP CAES M DID SEVER IVLIAN AVG, laureate head right / CONCORDIA MILIT S-C, Concordia standing left, holding two standards. RIC 14, Cohen 3, BMC 7
Look at the edge sir. See the line running around the coin? Its the casting seem. Its a cast fake. Chris
Thanks, I had doubts about it once I saw the edge. Luckily I didn't pay much for it. The measurement is 2.80 mm, I don't know the weight. Still undecided on what kind of scale to get.
Scales can help, especially with certain issues. For this one probably not. I got a small electronic scale off of Ebay for about $60 to give you an idea. You want it accurate to hundredths of grams, and read up to 100 grams, and have a tare setting. If they had been better with the casting seam, you could have looked at the coin and seen how the softness had nothing to do with the wear, but was over everything. This is common with cast coins. This coin, if real, would have been worth $100 at least, and probably more. Clean and shiny is not reliable since many ancients are cleaned well, and if worn can appear shiny. Best advice? Look at lots of coins, and read lots of posts here and other forums. Chris
Can you explain what "the softness had nothing to do with the wear" please? I need help with this same issue on some coins i have.
Look at a worn coin you know is authentic. Just pick a US one. Look at it closely. See how the highest points are worn, leaving no detail and appearing soft and smooth. Look at the lower relief portion of the coin. See how its a little worn, but not really? The high points wear first, so they should look softest. The recessed details should still look mostly like when the coin was struck. Now look at Icerain's coin. It was probably cast from a worn coin. However, look at the lower relief portions. See how they are not clear, they are soft, round, and shiny like the high portions? I agree if they copy a worn coin this part is a little harder, but in hand the worn parts of this coin will show no breaks in luster, so in hand this coin would be easier to identify as a cast. Ancients up until late Romans were much higher relief than modern coins, so this is easier for them than later coins. Hope that helps. What also helps is looking at thousands of authentic coins in person and learning about them. I suggest going to a large show, its a heck of an educational opportunity. I know I am not great explaining this, maybe Doug could help me out. Chris
Cool, I'm going to be looking at lots of ancient coins this weekend at the show. I will try not to buy anything too expensive until I get the feel for them. Thanks for all the help.
Going to the New York International? If going there, you do not worry about fakes. Any dealer with a fake there will have it labeled for you I believe. Way too many knowledgable eyes looking at their coins for them to dare not. That is one of the few places in the world where I would tell you to relax and not worry much about fakes sir. Chris P.S. Lucky bugger.
