Fake Ancient Greek Coins: Archaic and Classical

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LOKRIS, Lokri Opontii. Circa 380-338 BC. 151 viewsAR Stater, Diameter: 2.30cm - Weight: 12.5gr - Silver .999
Obv:- Wreathed head of Persephone left wearing triple pendant earring and a necklace. Head of goddess crowned with leaves, copied from the famous Syracusan dekadrachm by Euainetos.
Rev:- The Locrian Ajax nude, the son of Oïleus advancing right, brandishing sword and shield decorated with serpent; Corinthian helmet between legs, broken spear on ground. Underneath Ajax’s figure, in between his legs, his name writen in Greek AIAΣ (ΑΙΑS). Also, greek letters ΟΠΟΝΤΙ-ΩΝ (OPODION) in circular writing.
DATE: 369-338 BC

Sold in December 2006 on Ebay by 'apollonians' as a . 999 silver exact copy

Submitted by Maridvnvm maridvnvm

Lokris, Lokris Opuntia53 viewsAR Stater, 369-338 BC., 23 mm/10 grs
Obv: Wreathed head of Persephone left
Rev: OPONTIWN, the hero Ajax advancing right in crested Corinthian helmet with dagger and shield decorated with leaping griffin; AIAS and spear at feet.
BMC #33

Seller desc:
LOCRIANS OPUS STATER MID-FOURTH CENTURY RARE COPY
STERLING SILVER ...925...
NYMH ARETHUSA / HOMERIC HERO AJAX STATER
MID-FOURTH CENTURY COIN (REPLIKA) WAS ISSUED BY THE LOCRIANS OF OPUS.
THE OBVERSE DESING COPIED THE ARETHUSA HEAD ON SYRACUSAN COINAGE BY THE ARTIST EUAINETOS
REVERSE: FIGURE OF LOCAL HERO AJAX LEADER OF THE LOCRIANS IN THE TROJAN WAR,
NO COINS OF COMPARABLE IPORTANCE OR BEAUTY
WERE EVER AGAIN ISSUED BY THE OPUNTIAN LOCRIANS.
WEIGHTS 10 grams IT IS 23 mm. WIDE

Offered as rare copy on ebay
Dec/2011mdelvalle

LOKRIS, Lokris Opuntii - Silver Stater - 12.61 grams214 viewsSolid and heavy, bought on Ebay in 2009 as a copy for $14.95 at the BUY IT NOW button. The reverse and the observe 180 degrees from each other. Ajax is upside down... I don't know why. Would the originak ancient coin be this way, too? Or it's a mistake? Or...Is it because it is a copy?
Obv. Wreathed head of Persephone left.
Rev. OPONTIWN, Ajax advancing right, holding sword and shield decorated with serpent; below AIA and helmet. Antonivs Protti

LOKRIS, Lokris Opuntii. 132 viewsAR Stater.
Obv. Wreathed head of Persephone left.
Rev. OPONTIWN, Ajax advancing right, holding sword and shield decorated with serpent; below AIA and helmet. Antonivs Protti

Lokris, Noted by BCD123 viewsAR Hemidrachms,
Modern Cast and Ancient Imitation of Lokris
NAC 55 (8 October 2010) Lot 109

Modern Cast Fake 109.2

LOKRIS
LOKRI OPUNTII
Lot of three coins.
109.1 : Hemidrachm, 340’s BC or later. AR 2.11 g., 4¢. An underweight “barbarous” ancient imitation of group 5.
109.2 : Æ 1.87 g., 12¢. A modern cast copy of a group 7 hemidrachm. 109.3 : Hemidrachm, 340’s BC or later. AR 2.49 g., 7¢. An ancient imitation in poor style of a group 8 coin.
Fine to about very fine.

109.1 : The style is rather poor, the coin is very underweight but the silver seems to be reasonably pure. This coin is listed in the corpus as an “ancient forgery?” but this writer thinks it would be better described as an “ancient imitation” or even “an unofficial issue of a later date”.

109.2 : With an “old collection formed before WWII” provenance and therefore probably made in the early part of the 20th century, this modern forgery is a cast copy of dies O 32 and R 52 from group 7 of the corpus. Genuine triobols with these dies exist in Paris, Vienna, Berlin and the ANS. Today, unless this coin was silver plated or silver washed, it could not deceive anyone.

109.3 : Ex Wallace collection and IGCH 205. Lightly toned and of good silver. Although part of a hoard, this is an irregular issue imitating a corpus group 8 coin. It is listed in the corpus as no. 153, with dies O 32 and R 56. According to the corpus there was one more coin of the same dies in the “Thessaly 1979” hoard. It is not unusual to find such ancient spurious intruders amongst the genuine coins in legitimate hoards; it would be easier for an underweight coin of odd style to pass undetected in a group of similar looking coins than to avoid detection when offered on its own.

http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=419821

Lorkis Opuntii124 viewsModern electrotype fake of AR stater of Lokris, Lokris Opuntii, 23mm, 12.31g
obv: wreathed head of Persephone, left, wearing triple pendant earring and necklace
rev: Ajax advancing, right, nude but for crested Corinthian helmet, holding sword and shield decorated with a griffin; below, broken spear
Copy of original in British Museum; probably by Robert Ready but edge not stamped or stamp removed.
cf: GPCG pl. 22, 29.
commodus

Lucania Metapontion40 viewsLucania Metapontion circa 510 b.C.
unknown size and weight
META. Ear of barley of eight grains / Ear of barley incuse

Sold as replica Ebay on february 2013

Lucania, Metapontion AR Stater49 viewsSold on ebay on 12-11-2012

No size and weight specified.
The seller writes in the description: "WITHOUT WARRANTY OF AUTHENTICITY!"

Lucania, AMI (uncertain mint)55 viewsLucania, AMI (uncertain mint) 550-510 b.C.
AR Stater 7,87g
Bull standing l., head reverted, cicada or locust above, in ex. AMI retrograde / Incuse: bull standing r., head reverted, cicada or locust above.
Kraay 1976 plate 33 no 577

Sold as replica InAsta auction 35, lot 5822

Lucania, Heraklea25 viewsLucania, Heraklea. 390-340 b.C.
Silver stater, unknown size and weight
Head of Athena right wearing Corinthian helmet decorated with Skylla hurling a stone / [HRAKLHIWN] Herakles wrestling with the Nemean lion; club to left, owl between legs.
Van Keuren 50

Modern forgery sol on Ebay by known Toronto Group seller as an original coin in 1 day private auction.

Lucania, Metapontion33 viewsLucania, Metapontion; circa 330-290 b.C.
AR Nomos, unspecified size and weight
Head of Demeter l., wearing necklage, triple-pendant earring and barley wreath / META; Barley ear, leaf to l. with hayfork above, DA below.
Johnston C 5.16; HN Italy 1582

Sold as replica, InAsta auction 26, lot 5226

Lucania, Metapontion30 viewsLucania, Metapontion; circa 330-290 b.C.
AR Nomos
5,82g
Head of Demeter r., wearing necklage, triple-pendant earring and barley wreath / META in l. field; Barley ear, leaf to r.

Sold as replica, InAsta auction 43, lot 8268

Lucania, Metapontion40 viewsLucania, Metapontion circa 510 b.C.
AR Stater 8,43g
Ear of Barley / Same incuse

Sold as replica, InAsta auction 10, lot 3686

Lucania, Metapontion28 viewsLucania, Metapontion; circa 330-320 b.C.
gold 1/3 stater
2,77g
LEUKIPPOS; head of Leucippus, corinthian helmet with Scylla hurling stone / 2 ears of barley, SI between
Noe G5.1

Sold as replica, InAsta auction 10, lot 3683

Lucania, Metapontion, c. 540-510 BC. AR Stater (26mm, 8.22g).28 viewsLucania, Metapontion, c. 540-510 BC. AR Stater (26mm, 8.22g). Eight-grained barley ear. R/ Incuse of obverse. Cf. HNItaly 1470. Modern fake for studyJoe Sermarini

Lucania, Metapontum Ar fraction 1,63g26 viewsLucania, Metapontum
Ar fraction 1,63g
Bearded head with diadem r., border of dots / Ear of barley, META in r. field
Not listed in standard references, probably a silver replica of Johnston AE 14

Sold as replica InAsta auction 48 06/03/2013 lot 7180

Lucania, Metapontum, Gold Third Stater89 viewsObv:- ΛΕΥΚΙΠΠΟΣ, bearded head of Leucippus right in crested Corinthian helmet, its bowl ornamented with Scylla right, throwing rock
Rev:- Two barley ears, each with leaf on outer side of stalk, M above leaf on left, E above leaf on right, ΣΙ between the stems
Fig 5a is the false coin - 2.85g
Fig 5b is genuine - Leu 33, 1983, lot 203

Possibly another "Galvano Boys" coin.

Published in the IAPN BOC Vol 22, No. 1 in 1997 - example 5a
Image used with permission of IAPNmaridvnvm

Lucania, Metapontum, Half Stater, c. 520-510 BC82 viewsObv:- Ear of barley; META at right; all within elaborate beaded border.
Rev:- Ear of barley in incuse, hatched border around.
Fig 2 is the false coin - 4.60g

From a phoney hoard of incuse coins. All specimens of the same type come from the same die pairs. The aspect of the coins is somewhat coarse. They would be convincing enough if offered one at a time. The weigths are totally inconsistent.

Published in the IAPN BOC Vol 14, No. 2 in 1989 - example 2
Image used with permission of IAPNmaridvnvm

Lucania, Metapontum, Stater, c. 520-510 BC85 viewsObv:- Ear of barley; META at right; all within elaborate beaded border.
Rev:- Ear of barley in incuse, hatched border around.
Fig 1 is the false coin - 9.31g

From a phoney hoard of incuse coins. All specimens of the same type come from the same die pairs. The aspect of the coins is somewhat coarse. They would be convincing enough if offered one at a time. The weigths are totally inconsistent.

Published in the IAPN BOC Vol 14, No. 2 in 1989 - example 1
Image used with permission of IAPNmaridvnvm

Lucania, Metapontum, Stater, c. 520-510 BC78 viewsObv:- Ear of barley; ME-TAall within elaborate beaded border.
Rev:- ME-TA, Ear of barley in incuse, hatched border around.
Fig 3 is the false coin

Shown separately from a large phoney incuse hoard but from the same workshop.

Published in the IAPN BOC Vol 14, No. 2 in 1989 - example 3
Image used with permission of IAPNmaridvnvm

Lucania, Poseidonia, Ar stater, Ca. 530-500 B.C.65 viewsObv:- Poseidon striding r., wielding trident, ΠOM behind, dolphin to r.
Rev:- Same incuse.
Fig 3 is the false coin, 8.04g. Hess-Leu 1956, 33
Fig B is genuine, Leu 42, 1987, 49 ex (Kunstfreund) 48

Seen and photographed but not weighed in 1973. Probably made before World War II.

Published in the IAPN BOC Vol 11, No. 2 in 1988 - example 3
Image used with permission of IAPNmaridvnvm

Lucania, Poseidonia, Ar stater, Ca. 530-500 B.C.72 viewsObv:- Poseidon striding r., wielding trident, ΠOM behind, dolphin to r.
Rev:- Same incuse.
Fig 4 is the false coin, 7.78g. Coin Galleries list 1958
Fig B is genuine, Leu 42, 1987, 49 ex (Kunstfreund) 48

Seen and photographed but not weighed in 1973. Probably made before World War II.

Published in the IAPN BOC Vol 11, No. 2 in 1988 - example 4
Image used with permission of IAPNmaridvnvm

Lucania, Thourioi, c. 400-350 BC, distater14 viewsLucania, Thourioi, c. 400-350 BC, distater (Silver, 26mm, 15.95 g 4). Head of Athena to left, wearing helmet adorned, on the bowl, with Skylla raising her right hand as if to shade her eyes as she looks off in the distance. Rev. ΘΟΥΡΙΩΝ Bull butting to right; in exergue, fish to right. cf. BMC 27, HN III 1803, Noe C2

Poor replica used for key chains.Joe Sermarini

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