Your Latest Acquisition - Ancients

They do, but they really shouldn't. This was on eBay just recently. The slab is real, the coin however, is not and is a very common fake that never should have made it through. I nearly bought the coin myself because I was so surprised to find such a common and well-published fake in a slab.

 

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My most recent purchase and first from this era.
I forgot to mention that my local coin store has several newer versions that I plan on picking up over the next month to go along with this one.




AUSTRIA/HUNGARY. House of Hapsburg.
Ferdinand III, AD 1637-1657
AR 3 Kreuzer, 22mm, 1.7g, 10h; St. Viet mint, 1639
Obv.: FERDI III D G R I (3) S A G H ET B R; Laureate bust right within circle.
Rev.: ARCHI AVS ET CARINT D B ET 1639; Three shields separated by ornaments in a circle, above imperial eagle, right ancient Burgundy, left Carinthia (Kärnten).
Reference: KM 835
From the H8Modern Collection

 

I went to a show in Vienna, VA today and brought home 3 ancients, all from one dealer’s 1/2 price box. I’m going to go against the grain and show the coins and what I paid which seriously factored into my decision to buy them.



Calabria, Tarentum
302-281 BC
AR drachm
Head of Athena/owl standing right, head facing
$65



Faustina jr.
175 AD
AR denarius
Hilaritas standing
$39



Vespasian
69-79 AD
AR denarius
SPQR in wreath
$21

 

I think you got a heck of a deal on that Tarentum!!

 

Wow, that is good prices.

That's MAT Bargain Buys!

 

Some sweet deals H8!

I would have jumped on those too.

John

 

https://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/4281744-001/NGCAncients/
I see this fake is still listed on the NGC site above. On that page, tey solicit reports of fakes. Has this been reported? This coin is of interest to me also since I bought one and returned it for refund from a dealer I thought would know more than I did. Now it seems so obvious a fake but I was fooled once until I had it in hand.


NGC errors would strike me as rare enough that this coin in an authentic NGC slab would be worth more that a real one.

 

I reported it to the dealer who immediately removed it and said that they would be contacting NGC but I haven't heard anything else about it, nor have I seen the coin relisted.

 

I got my first Constantine the Great coin today! A bit of a departure from my usual 2nd and 3rd century area of interest.
AE3, Arelate mint. RIC 252, Cohen 123. Weight 4.90 grams.

 

Vey nice tet of poor Antiochus I. The mournful look on the obverse make these one of my favorite obtainable tets of the Seleucid Empire. It is as if he knew that the task of holding together the empire of his father was beyond his abilities.

 

Though, wouldn't someone who is looking to purchase an ancient, particularly one with value, rather pay extra for the coin knowing it is authenticated--therefore adding value to stabbing the coin.?

 

I thought NGC authenticates their coins otherwise they send it back. Do they offer some kind of insurance if a collector comes across something such as this?

 

Not for ancients. They won't slab anything they don't believe is authentic but they do make mistakes occasionally and they don't have any sort of authenticity guarantees or anything like that. If you find out your slabbed coin is fake, you're on your own to get your money back from the seller.

 

Ancient coins are a poor subject for people who require absolutes of any kind. There are too many types, too many variables of strike and preservation and too many opinions that may just be correct. I respect, even admire, the two graders of ancients at NGC but that does not mean I agree with their every call on every coin. The vast majority of coins in their slabs are what the say they are and can be traded by people who know nothing about the subject. They started slabbing ancients to open the hobby to the market share of buyers who do not know the coins. That may be good. What they accomplished is opening the hobby to those who have no interest or intention of ever learning. I can not put a good spin on that one.

 

I would, however, draw a line between those casual "collectors" who may want just a few ancient coins because they're fascinated with them, vs. those collectors who will compile a large set of slabbed ancient coins but have no real interest in any aspect of them other than their collectability.

For the former collectors, slabs serve a useful purpose, and I'm hesitant to criticize their choice of slabbed coins; were I in this category, I'd likely do the same.

For the latter collectors, I agree with Doug that I can't find any way to put a good spin on this approach to collecting ancients.

 

Touché

 

How did you tell it was fake prior to attempting to purchase?

 

The same way you assess any ancient coin. Look for signs of casting or other shenanigans. And check databases for matches. It is not always possible to deem a coin fake solely from images but in this case it was possible.

As he mentioned, it is a well known cast fake. If you search CoinTalk you’ll see a few other examples of it, plus identical copies can be viewed in fakes databases. Aside from knowing carbon copy casts exist, the coin exhibits signs of casting.

 

I wish to possess such skills as you to be able to judge a coin's authenticity without actually having to physically possess it. It's a shame NGC let this one through...

 

It is not easy and often it isn't possible. In the case of the Carisius denarius shown by Red Spork (and another example by Doug Smith) for the reasons I stated. Please note that I am not an expert nor do I claim any special knowledge of detecting fakes. There are various websites where you can learn more about detecting ancient coin fakes. I don't have them bookmarked (or can't find where I put them ) but try searching CoinTalk for the topic.