See picture below, currently up for
auction. Multiple reasons why it is
fake, but compare the reputedly genuine BM example for a start
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/4151023730/Notice on the BM example, the P is open and in the same
style as the
obverse P, the R is likewise in the same
style, and the I is like that in the
reverse III. In the
fake, the P is a modern closed P, the R doesn’t match in
style and the I is like the numeral I on obverses such as III. There is convenient accretions just around the altered letters. The photo is low
quality but inside the letter R you can see a dark patch that looks like scrapes or surface damage.
It also has a completely different
style reverse eagle. How many engravers do we think were needed to make the perhaps two dies for such an extremely
rare issue? (I say “two dies” on the basis of presuming the BM example true, so every other example is from a second die until proved
fake, which they all are)? The answer is exactly one engraver, to be completed before
his first coffee break on Monday morning.
And finally, I’ve seen so many
fakes of this, all from different ‘dies’, many with wrong
style reverses, that I’ll only accept as unquestionably genuine one from the BM die pair, or at the very least with the exact same
style engraving and much more plausible surfaces and wear.
Isn't it also odd that none of these
fakes ever appear worn - given that 80% of
legionary denarii circulated til the
Severan era, or looked as if they did. Well, it's not odd, because it's easier to tool/alter a
good condition coin than a worn one. Though we should expect a forger to read this and next time produce a worn example as they do with the
fake EID
MARs.
Fake Coins and Notorious Fake Sellers
