Are these syrian coins for real??

[pj_elia]

First, I would like to say hello.  This is my first post.  I have read quite a bit on the site and it seems to be a great resource and well managed web community.

My father picked these up on a trip to Syria.  I am new to ancient coins and assumed they were counterfeit based on what he paid some local children for them.  After some internet based research, I believe they may be real.  I will be posting some in the identification forum but figured I'll check here if to see if these are common fakes. What do you guys think?  Do we have some legitimate coins? 

[Vergilius]

I very much doubt that any of these coins are real, the patina and dirt seems to put on the coins, and you would never find two identical coins! (like those two latter Alexander ones). The style of the byzantine one, also seems odd and seems to me to be an obvious fake.

[pj_elia]

I was thinking the same thing about the same 2 coins and the patina on all of them.  All of the coins seem to be from that area based on the research I've done so far and it seemed odd that there would be sophisticated fakes in the area my father was since it was pretty rural and not a tourist attraction.  But then again, I guess it would be too good to be true.  Is there any other tell-tale signs to look for?

[areich]

They all look the same, even though there are (or should be) hundreds of years between
them and the originals are made from different metals. I think all but the top right should be silver.
What's more, especially the two at the bottom would be worth around $1000 if genuine.
These people are not stupid and know exactly what the genuine coins they do find are worth.

[Salem Alshdaifat]

I think just one coin is Authentic, the Syrian Roman Tetradrachm since the dirt color vary, but the rest are FAKES.
regards
Salem

[pj_elia]

Salem,
Thanks for your input. Excuse my ignorance, which is the Syrian Roman Tetradrachm? Should I try to clean the dirt off to verify it.   My father was in a village near some ancient ruins and I believe the children told him the found the coins in the surrounding fields as they were plowed.  Usually fakes are offered for significant money which was not the case with these.  That also was interesting. I guess a few dollars is significant to them.  The patina on the byzantine coin wore off on a small spot and is revealing a white metal.  I did not attempt to clean any of them.  Its been interesting just trying to figure out what coins they were.   I am a history buff and the historical aspect of ancient coins intrigues me.

[Joe Sermarini]

The Syrian Roman tet is top left.  I don't think it is likely to but geniune. 

[Vergilius]

If you post a better picture of the Syrian Roman Tetradrachm, someone here will be able to give a better opinion if it is fake or not, but I do not think it is likely that it is genuine, unfortunately.

[commodus]

Are these syrian coins for real??

In an nutshell: no.

[wileyc]

Just as a FYI here is a link to the match for the Byzantine coin in the top right

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=60

  as quoted

"Justinian Follis, SB F17 
Justinian Follis, 22.8g, 35mm dia. Published in Sear's BCV as F17 in the "Forgeries of Byzantine Coins" section in the back of the book (p493). The author of this section, Mike O'Hara, remarks "This is a fairly well made copy of a follis of Constantinople, year twelve. It has appeared in some major sales."

cordially


cw

p.s. Don't feel bad though, its cool that your dad picked these up for you and one can always hope for a deal!! I think most collectors have a "black box" where they have coins that turned out not to be what they thought.
 

[ROMA]

"it seemed odd that there would be sophisticated fakes in the area"

These are not sophisticated fakes. The patina on these is the epitome of tourist crap fake patinas. Not to mention that using the same paint color patina for this group of coins is just silly.

[pj_elia]

That for all your opinions.  Definately no hard feelings.  Its been very interesting and only a $5 lost. Here is a few more pics of the Syrian Roman Tetradrachm mentioned above.

[pj_elia]

T

[Sap]

...My father picked these up on a trip to Syria....

Right there is the biggest reason to doubt these coins. Syria, like most countries in the Middle East, has quite strict Antiquities Laws that prohibit the casual sale of ancient artifacts, including coins. Click here to read them.

Now I have no idea how well these laws are actually enforced, but professional coin smugglers would never take the chance - after all, the "tourists" could just as well be government agents. They'd get more money and stand less chance of getting caught by smuggling them out of the country themselves.

Genuine ancient coins are rarely sold to tourists on the street, anywhere. They will often have a story about how they found them, or even take you off to a ruin "nobody else knows about" where there are ancient coins just lying around for you to pick up. In all cases, these "coins" will be recently made fakes.

OF course, countries with strict anti-looting laws normally have no problem whatsoever with people making and selling fake ancient coins, so what these folks are doing is perfectly legal there. One hopes that the government agents and customs inspectors are sufficiently well-trained to spot fake ancient coins when they see them. Otherwise, a tourist could be hauled off to jail or pay a hefty fine for trying to "export" the fakes.