Hello all:
I posted this topic on the
Byzantine forum a couple of weeks ago, but received no answers. I'm posting it again here just in case someone might have any thoughts. Thanks
_____________
LEO VI, The
Wise.
+LEOnbA S ILEVSROm
+LEOn EnOEObA SILEVSR OmEOn.
SBCV 1729
11.65g.
This coin came in a lot a purchased at
auction a few years ago. It was the remnants of someone's old
collection, in an apparently 1960's old, crumbly folder, and it contained about 100 bronzes, including
Provincial,
Roman, and
Byzantine coins.
Nice as the lot was, there were two coins, a
Roman and a
Byzantine, that seemed a little off. The latter is the one in question here.
A heavily "earthed," soiled piece, as so many
Byzantines tend to be, I eventually got to it and patiently cleaned it for a while. I was rather surprised to find that it wasn't bronze, but a rather dark metal, perhaps a lead
alloy, as it appeared to be rather soft.
When seen sideways, the thickness of the coin is about twice as much on one
side; and on the thicker
side it does have what appears to be a casting seam.
This
type being one of the most common
Byzantine coins ever minted, it struck me as rather interesting that someone would go to the trouble of counterfeiting (or faking) a coin that looks very different from the original, and that also
weights in at about 30% to 40% more than what seems to be the
average for this
type. (Then again, so many
fakes don't make any sense at all...)
Following the logical path, I'm assuming it's guilty until proven innocent.
If
counterfeit or
fake, are there any known lead (gray metal, at any rate)
counterfeits or
fakes of
Byzantine coins? (If
fake, it would appear that it was done at least forty years ago, if one is to date it by the folder.)
Any thoughts?
Fake Coins and Notorious Fake Sellers
