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Author Topic: Badly Tooled Coins Here  (Read 160741 times)

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Offline curtislclay

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #50 on: October 07, 2009, 01:37:58 pm »
I agree with Stefan and Andreas in seeing no tooling. I think the dies were worn, which explains the lack of sharpness of the legends on both sides.
Curtis Clay

Offline Optimo Principi

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #51 on: October 09, 2009, 08:38:51 am »
Thanks for all the examples guys, really helping me learn about Tooling/smoothing and how to spot it.

This might be a silly question but...do people ever tool or smooth silver coins? Or is that not done? Just that all the examples shown are bronzes.

Offline areich

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #52 on: October 09, 2009, 09:00:09 am »
It's really hard to do it with silver and it's more noticeable.
It is more often done with gold, there are some seller (known dealers among them) who 'repair'
cracks, test cuts etc. and after polishing it's hard to spot. This is usually only spotted, because these records
are online. Of course if you restrict access to this data to dealers...  ::)
Andreas Reich

Ghengis_Jon

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #53 on: October 09, 2009, 01:02:22 pm »
Seller reports significant tooling on obverse.

Ghengis_Jon

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Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #54 on: April 07, 2010, 12:21:25 pm »
Lip gloss, eye liner, and mascara.  :)


Ghengis_Jon

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #55 on: April 09, 2010, 02:49:48 pm »
These probably can't be labelled "Badly Tooled", but the seller reports all 4 examples have been tooled.


Offline Laetitia

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #56 on: April 19, 2010, 10:56:41 am »
This is currently for sale on a certain auction site.

Offline Marcantica

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #57 on: April 19, 2010, 11:52:10 am »
More and more such badly tooled large bronzes (Sestertii, Dupondii and Asses) can be found in European coin shows.
Most of these dealers come from Ex-Yugoslavia but live in Western Europe and bring these badly tooled and repatinated bronzes to sell them here.
Be aware of large amount of these large bronzes all with the same patinas, very nice obverses, although the reverse is sometimes difficult to make out; almost caricatural portraits and substantial price reductions from the dealer, without being asked to give any reduction!
These dealers also sell archaeological objects, also tooled, mixed with a lot of fake artefacts and coins (mostly denarii and sometimes Roman gold too)!
Best regards and be aware!
Marc,
Marcantica

Offline Optimo Principi

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #58 on: May 04, 2010, 02:46:02 pm »
A "Lightly Tooled" gem currently for sale from SJB Coins. Poor Hadrian, he doesn't deserve this..

Ghengis_Jon

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Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #59 on: July 07, 2010, 08:49:41 am »
Bust's hair and the reverse.


Ghengis_Jon

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Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #60 on: July 15, 2010, 07:14:09 am »
Ugh.

Offline Danny S. Jones

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #61 on: August 07, 2010, 11:54:38 am »
So whatcha think? Stunning artistry, no? I've got a proverbial dollar for anyone who can identify it too.  ;)
It was really easy, until I dropped it yesterday and the side broke off with the emperor's name.  Oops!

Oh well. 
Danny

Offline Danny S. Jones

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #62 on: August 10, 2010, 07:05:34 am »
Ok... here's a hint:

Ingredients:
1. Copper penny
2. Dremel with diamond bits
3. Black permanent marker
4. Candle
5. Too much time

Offline rover1.3

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #63 on: August 10, 2010, 07:08:17 am »
Excuse me..You mean you made this? Congratulations!!

Offline Danny S. Jones

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #64 on: August 10, 2010, 08:39:18 am »
It's not exactly a work of art. I don't think Abraham Lincoln would be very proud. I drew the outline of the picture onto the penny with a felt tip pen and then etched it out with a fine point bit. Then I carved everything away that didn't look like the Constans portrait I was trying to copy. For the reverse, I thought I'd do something different, so I made a rider on a horse, but soon tired of my project because I kept sneezing with all the metal dust flying up in my face.

For those of you wondering, No... I do not, nor have I ever tooled a coin. This was just an experiment to see what I could do with a penny and a dremel tool. The problem is there is just not enough metal thickness in a modern coin to make an ancient "hobo nickel" with the proper relief. I carved too deep, and when it accidentally dropped on the floor, the inscription broke off of one side.

My adventure in fakery had to include a fake patina, so I started by using a black permanent marker to "paint" the coin. This was too obvious, so I distressed the coin by rubbing between two other modern coins. This gave the look of wear, but the highlights were too bright. I held the coin above a candle high enough to not burn the coin, but collect the black soot. The carbon from the candle soot is just enough, after wiping it with a rag, to tone down the shiny metal and make the marker look more like patina and less like ink.

I didn't set out to produce a fake coin that could fool anyone, just to see how difficult it would be to carve one, like the ancient die engravers. All told, it took about an hour to produce this coin. I wonder, with no power tools, how long it took to engrave a die - to much better standards than this.

Regards,
Danny

Offline areich

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #65 on: August 10, 2010, 09:08:01 am »
There's someone on the German forum that engraves dies. He hasn't been at it long and he can already produce some good dies. And just like a Lipanoff they might not fool any serious collector but suitably worn they are surprisingly good and would certainly fool inexperienced collectors.
Andreas Reich

Ghengis_Jon

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #66 on: August 16, 2010, 12:10:52 pm »
Geez Danny, are you fishing for a job at Sadigh Galleries or something?  ;D

Offline Danny S. Jones

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #67 on: August 16, 2010, 01:23:09 pm »
Geez Danny, are you fishing for a job at Sadigh Galleries or something?  ;D

Nah... I hear they're not hiring after some bad publicity on eBay. ;D

There may be some job opportunities in Bulgaria or Toronto though. No... you're right. It's more on the level of "Sadigh" quality.

I ought to post it on eBay:
Extremely rare (r5: unique) copper Romanesque penny.
Obverse: Sadighus Augustus
Sweatband, curiassed bust right.
Reverse: John Wayne on horse, galloping left.
ATHENS in exergue. (Bangkok mint. First officina)
19.5mm 1.98gm VF

I'm sure it would sell.  ::)

Offline Danny S. Jones

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #68 on: August 18, 2010, 11:28:47 am »
I tried to make a high relief but ended up carving too deep into the penny. It's very, very thin in some places.  That's why one edge broke off.  (Diameter is actually 17.5mm, not 19.5mm... not that it really matters.)

Ghengis_Jon

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #69 on: August 24, 2010, 08:03:45 am »
27mm, 14.9 grams, a most interesting reverse.


Offline Mark Z

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #70 on: August 24, 2010, 10:40:04 am »
27mm, 14.9 grams, a most interesting reverse.



Looks like the world's first rolling golf club bag ;)

I see he's got one of those animal covers for his driver, too.

I understand he uses "Orbis 1" golf balls.

mz

Ghengis_Jon

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Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #71 on: August 30, 2010, 10:51:04 am »
Andy P doesn't deserve this fate...

Offline Arminius

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #72 on: August 30, 2010, 11:10:38 am »
It´s a pity when a noble portrait is changed to a caricature.

Antoninus Caricaturicus  >:(

Offline areich

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Re: Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #73 on: August 31, 2010, 04:34:54 am »
Sold by our good friend David Suter, back as julius-nepos.


Andreas Reich

Ghengis_Jon

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Badly Tooled Coins Here
« Reply #74 on: September 02, 2010, 09:21:29 am »
Hadrian sestertius, obverse tooled and smoothed. 

 

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