Ancient Coins - Fakes

Thanks to all listmembers for the permission to present this material.

Parthian 
http://www.fivepointstech.com/parthia/parthia_forgery.htm 
  
Roman 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6193/fake.html   very good and detailed, a lot of instruktive pictures 

General and Roman 
http://merlin.iskp.uni-bonn.de/mommsen/diplaxel/rahmen.html   in German 

http://members.aol.com/kroh/fakes.html very professional article 

http://www.ukdetectornet.co.uk/repro.htm   commercial fakes (copies) , good pictures 

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/rialto/coins-msg.html  nice series of articles on fakes 
  
 

Your comments are wellcome...

Rudolf Appel
 r_appel@t-online.de

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Betreff:         Re: [Moneta-L] Bulgarian Look 
 Datum:         Mon, 26 Jul 1999 16:43:21 PDT 
    Von:         "JOSEPH BLAZICK" <caesars12@hotmail.com> 
    An:         Moneta-L@onelist.com 
To carry this thread a little further than the gold Claudius that I presented to the list last time ,I have now received and scaned a 
silver dennarius of Pertinax done by that certain Bulgarian Artist. It is a well done piece and can be seen by opening the folling website using your browser:  http://members.xoom.com/caesars12/BUL.JPG 
  I can see where some people worry about them being passed off as the real thing . 
 
 
 

Betreff:          Re: [Moneta-L] Bulgarian Look 
     Datum:     Mon, 26 Jul 1999 17:33:47 -0700 
       Von:             "Dave Welsh" <dwelsh@deltanet.com> 
        An:             "JOSEPH BLAZICK" <caesars12@hotmail.com>, <Moneta-L@onelist.com> 
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: JOSEPH BLAZICK <caesars12@hotmail.com> 
To: <Moneta-L@onelist.com> 
Sent: Monday, July 26, 1999 4:43 PM 
Subject: Re: [Moneta-L] Bulgarian Look 

> From: "JOSEPH BLAZICK" <caesars12@hotmail.com> 
> 
> To carry this thread a little further than the gold Claudius that 
> I presented to the list last time ,I have now received and scaned a 
> silver dennarius of Pertinax done by that certain Bulgarian Artist. It is  a 
> well done piece and can be seen by opening the folling website using your 
> browser:  http://members.xoom.com/caesars12/BUL.JPG 
> I can see where some people worry about them being passed off as 
> the real thing . 

If you look at your "Pertinax," you may note the following giveaways: 

1) The eye is drawn too large and differently in style from a genuine coin; 
2) The engraving of hair and beard curls is less detailed than on a genuine coin; 
3) The piece is unusually round and well centered; 
4) The impression is completely even, and the fields are unnaturally flat. 
5) The piece does not have a natural striking lustre. The microscopic "flow lines" seen on genuine coins are absent, and the surface is slightly matte in texture to create an illusion of lustre. 
I believe that Slavei does not strike his reproductions, but makes the impression in a hydraulic press. 
Dave Welsh 
dwelsh@deltanet.com 
 
 

Betreff:             Re: [Moneta-L] Bulgarian Look 
     Datum:             Mon, 26 Jul 1999 20:56:14 -0400 
       Von:             "Smith, Douglas" <dougsmit@erols.com> 
        CC:             Moneta-L@onelist.com 
 
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6193/fake.html 
The Bulgarian Pertinax shown on the recent posting to the list is the same die as the same coin shown on my group 
photo of these fakes (above).  This brings up the question:I have never seen a Slavei fake type that seems to have more 
than one die for the same coin type.  Is anyone aware of any of these coins that were produced by more than one die set? 
The large group (several hundred) of these that I saw had a dozen different coins but no die variations and rather 
little variation in striking, centering etc.  None really looked struck as opposed to pressed and a screw press was 
shown in the illustration of the workshop run in the Celator.  Certainly this photo does not prove how the coins 
were actually made but the look of the coin seems consistent with the hand screw press.  Agree? 
-- 
Doug Smith 
dougsmit@erols.com 
Please visit my webpage: Ancient Greek & Roman Coins 
http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/6193/index.html 
 

Betreff:         Re: [Moneta-L] Bulgarian Look 
 Datum:         Mon, 26 Jul 1999 18:29:54 PDT 
    Von:         "JOSEPH BLAZICK" <caesars12@hotmail.com> 
    An:         dwelsh@deltanet.com 
    CC:         Moneta-L@onelist.com 
  Go to http://members.xoom.com/caesars12/COMPARE.JPG and compare yourself the real and the Slavei side by side . Your actual veiw on the copies will actually be seen . It is likely that several of these reside in collections and were purchased as originals because buyers lack the insight that you have pointed out so nicely. Thanks Dave! 
BUYERS BEWARE!!!!! 
 
 
Betreff:             Re: [Moneta-L] Bulgarian Look 
     Datum:             Mon, 26 Jul 1999 23:11:01 -0700 
       Von:             "David M. Garstang" <garstang@electriciti.com> 
        An:             Moneta-L@onelist.com 
 
As usual, Doug's posting made me go "hmmm...".  I bought a Slavei of Pertinax some time back (before I could afford the real thing).  Sure enough, it appears to be exactly the same obverse and reverse die as Doug's and Joseph's. 
I think mine lends credence to the press theory of production.  Along the top edge of the reverse (the bottom of the obverse) on mine, there's a very clear lip that's just a bit thicker than the rest of the flan.  A narrow strip just outside of the beaded border is perfectly flat and the same thickness as the rest of the coin, then along a very clear boundary, it is just a bit thicker and appears slightly bent upward (toward the reverse).  I'd guess this part of the flan stuck out past the edge of the die. 
Mine is also perfectly aligned in "coin" orientation (top of the obverse being the bottom of the reverse).  It also appears to be nearly exactly the same thickness across the coin.  If they are all like this, this would provide an additional clue to the production process.  It certainly screams "FAKE!" to me, knowing how much irregularity there is in the striking of ancient coins of this vintage.  There is usually some evidence that the obverse and reverse dies weren't perfectly aligned in the real thing. 
The Slaveis I've seen all have a distinctive style, and even I (a relative novice) have little trouble recognizing them.  I thought the Claudius that Joseph showed earlier (that was you, Joseph, wasn't it?) did not look like Slavei.  More like I remember the Becker counterfeits, with their much cleaner, more elegant styling.  Others seem to share my opinion.  Are you pretty sure it is Slavei, Joseph? 

Dave Garstang 

Betreff:         [Moneta-L] coin on ebay 
 Datum:         Sat, 17 Jul 1999 15:03:25 -0700 
    Von:         r_appel@t-online.de (Rudolf Appel) 
    An:         "Moneta-L@onelist.com" <Moneta-L@onelist.com> 

Dear List, Please if you like take a look at:   

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=128271283 

A fake ? The letters looks strange ... please your comments 
regards 
Rudolf 
 

Betreff:         Re: [Moneta-L] coin on ebay 
 Datum:         Sat, 17 Jul 1999 12:57:08 -0600 
    Von:         Robert Kokotailo <calcoins@cadvision.com> 
    An:         r_appel@t-online.de (Rudolf Appel) 

This is a fake made to sell in museum gift shops in England, but I have seen them in other countries. The original manufacturer had no intention of passing it off as genuine, but he still should have said on the packaging that it is a copy. 
 
 

Betreff:             Re: [Moneta-L] coin on ebay 
     Datum:             Sat, 17 Jul 1999 08:27:53 -0700 
       Von:             "Dave Welsh" <dwelsh@deltanet.com> 
        An:             <Moneta-L@onelist.com>, "Rudolf Appel" <r_appel@t-online.de> 
 
This is a cast modern reproduction of low quality.I have in my "black museum" a set of 5 "ancient coin replicas" similar to 
this, issued by Newsweek Books some years ago.Replicas like this originally sold for $1.00 each or thereabouts. 
Dave Welsh 
dwelsh@deltanet.com