Just got my copy of
Not Kosher, Forgeries of Ancient Jewish and Biblical Coins by David
Hendin. I have spent the last few days reading it and closely reviewing the
forgeries in this book. If you are a collector of
Biblical coins, you will need this book.
This is not a how to create
forgeries book.
Hendin does briefly discuss forgery methods and some of the methods used to identify
forgeries. The best
part to this section is the section on 'Diagnostics for
Jewish and
Biblical Coins.' Here
Hendin gives the common characteristics of what a genuine coin are for the different
types discussed in this volume. I feel
his discussion of edge characteristics is very important.
I also enjoyed the section in which
Hendin gives different stories about
his and other encounters with
Biblical forged coins. He has stories about the
Fake Menorah coin, a
Hadrian sestertius of
his visit to Judea, a
replica of a
Bar Kochba sela that someone made to give as a gift to friends, and the famous
Bar Kochba coins from Kentucky (USA). These stories are great and
help to enliven a book that is basically a
catalog of
fakes.
As for the
catalog, it is well organized with each coin fully illustrated. Many are shown at two times their original size to show the details better. To see what the original coin, that the forgery is based on, you also need
Guide to Biblical Coins, also by
Hendin. My only complaint about the book is that the illustrations are a little dark and I wish they were of higher
quality. In some catalogs, you can use a low power magnifier to see more detail in the image. This does not
work with the illustrations in this book. All you see are dots.
