Fake Ancient Greek Coins: Archaic and Classical
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Mosses, Thraco-Macedonian Tribes72 viewsThraco-Macedonian Tribes, The Bisaltai(?). Mosses.
Circa 470 BC.
AR Drachm
Obv:- Horseman, wearing chlamys and petasos, and holding two spears, leading horse right
Rev:- MO-Σ-ΣE-Ω around square within shallow incuse square.
AMNG III 8; SNG ANS 1016 (Paeonia); Dewing 1012 (same dies).
Modern reproduction
Sold without warranty on ebay May 2009maridvnvm
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Sicily, Motya21 viewsSicily, Motya. Siculo-Punic issue. Circa 409-397 BC.
Æ Onkia 1,50g; 11,80mm
Young male head right / Crab.
Jenkins I pl. 23, 14; Calciati I pg. 279, 9; SNG ANS 511
Modern forgery, probably cast.
Sold as genuine on ebay by a notorius german fake seller for 322 Eur on 16 feb 2013.
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Motya34 viewsSICILY. Motya AR Didrachm. 415-405 BC.
Obv : Dog standing right
Rev : Female head right, wearing ampyx.
Cf. Jenkins SNR 50, pl. 3, 29 = SNG ANS 497 = Campana II, 375, 8B/c; SNG München 1596; BMC Sicily (Segesta) 135, 40. Apparently unpublished.
Modern transfer dies and genuine hostMartin B4
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Velia, silver didrachm162 viewsAR didrachm, 350-330 BC
Head of Athena right, wearing crested Athenian helmet decorated with griffin; monogram below / YEΛHTΩN, lion crouching right, symbols above
SNG Cop 1549v
Right rear leg of lion should be forward of left rear leg
Lucania, Velia. Circa 350-330 BC. AR Nomos
Found whilst metal detecting in a county chipbark play area in Arizona.
Appears to be a modern reproduction made in silver.
Submitted by Maridvnvm maridvnvm
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Mysia, Ancient Greek, Electrum Stater Cyzicus52 viewssold on ebay, september 2011
Wrong style, wrong fabric, notches
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Mysia Obol Greece 5th century BC fine silver replica coin16 viewsMysia Obol Greece 5th century BC fine silver replica coin
Fine silver; 8 mm/ 0.8 gm
Obv/ Hippocamp swimming right.
Rev/ Head of roaring lion left within incuse square.Joe Sermarini
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SICILY, Mytistratos.24 viewsSICILY, Mytistratos. Circa 344-336 BC.
Æ Hemilitron 25,02g; 25mm.
Head of Hephaistos right, wearing pileos / YM and six pellets within wreath. Calciati III, 293, 1; SNG Morcom 646
Sold as replica InAsta auction 50, lot 5747
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SICILY, Mytistratos29 viewsSICILY, Mytistratos. Circa 344-336 BC.
Æ Hemilitron 26,97g
Head of Hephaistos right, wearing pileos / YM and six pellets within wreath. Calciati III, 293, 1; SNG Morcom 646
Modern forgery
Accepted as genuine by a reputable auction house on 2009
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Phokis Triobols Noted by BCD92 viewsPHOKIS
FEDERAL COINAGE
PHOKIAN LEAGUE
Lot of four coins: two silver triobols struck under Onymarchos (314.1) and Phayllos (314.3) plus two modern forgeries copied from the actual dies of these triobols. 314.1: AR 2.48 g., 3¢. 314.2: Æ 2.39 g., 7¢. 314.3: AR 2.60 g., 12¢. 314.4: AR 2.48 g., 6¢. Frontal bull’s head. Rev. Head of Apollo r., behind, lyre.
Of the genuine coins (314.1 and 314.3) the first has corroded areas and its condition is fine, the second is slightly rough and about very fine. The bronze forgery (314.2) is in good fine condition and the silver forgery (314.4) is about very fine and toned.
314.1: Williams - (O.- / R.216). This coin is a die duplicate of lot 295.2 above and is offered here for comparison with the next coin, 314.2, a bronze cast fake that was made by copying this pair of dies, unknown to Williams at the time. Now this combination is known (also in lot 295.2 above) and the genuine and fake coins can be compared next to one another.
314.2: Acquired in 1963 and probably of pre-WWII production. It could be that at some time in the past this coin was silvered or that it was meant to be silver washed but the forger never got round to it and passed it on to the tourist trade as a bronze fake. A physical comparison of this coin with 314.1 and 295.2 above can be quite instructive.
314.3: Williams - (O.264 / R.231). Williams post 394. This is the prototype for the next coin, which is a cast forgery copying dies that were known to Williams but separately, not on the same coin. Now a coin struck from these dies is known and a die duplicate of it obviously served as a model for the production of the cast forgery in silver offered below as 314.4.
314.4: Ex Buckland, Dix and Wood 6 October 1993, lot 41 (part). This must also be dated back to the first half of the 20th century when forgers aiming at modest profits could afford to spend time for the production of cheap imitations of common coins. Most of these fakes would be sold to the tourist trade for a small premium over the metal value and if a gullible and inexperienced collector took the bait as well, so much the better. Comparing this coin with its genuine prototype, 314.3 above, can again be quite instructive.
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=420026
To see an authentic die duplicate coin of the master that was used for the mold to cast BCD Phokis 314.2 refer to http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=420007
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Lokris, Hemidrachms noted by BCD154 viewsAR Hemidrachms,
Modern and Ancient Forgeries of Lokris
NAC 55 (8 October 2010) Lot 108
Modern Fake 108.2
LOKRIS
LOKRI OPUNTII
Lot of six coins.
108.1 : Plated hemidrachm, circa 350 BC or later. AR (Æ) 2.51 g., 7¢, having as a prototype a coin similar to lot 46 above (corpus group 1).
108.2 : A modern cast forgery, AR 2.08 g., 11¢, imitating a hemidrachm belonging to group 2 of the corpus (see lot 47 above).
108.3 : An ancient forgery, circa 350 BC or later. Æ (AR) 2.31 g., 11¢, in the form of the core of a plated coin, with traces of silvering remaining, mostly on the reverse, imitating a hemidrachm belonging to group 3 of the corpus (see lot 49 above).
108.4 : An ancient hemidrachm of good silver, circa 350 BC or later. AR 1.99 g., 7¢, being an unofficial or clandestine issue with a style and fabric very different to that of normal group 3 coins.
108.5 : A coin of the same pair of dies as the previous but less well struck and with more wear, AR 2.04 g., 5¢.
108.6 : An ancient plated hemidrachm forgery, circa 350 BC or later. AR (Æ) 2.64 g., 12¢, with an obverse test cut, imitating a hemidrachm belonging to group 4 of the corpus.
An interesting and instructive group. Various conditions,
from about fine to very fine.
108.1 : A gift of a good friend who appreciates and shares the excitement that “off beat’ coins offer to the inquisitive collector. The style is fairly close to some of the original dies of group 1, with the addition of a wheatear above the forehead on the obverse. The engraver of this false die was obviously aware of the subsequent issues and especially group 4 (see lot 50 above, where the wheatear is prominent).
108.2 : Ex Christie’s London, 9 October 1990, lot 460 (part). This coin has the wrong style for group 2 and is of course cast rather than struck. It probably dates to the first half of the 20th century, when the production of cast fakes of low value common coins was quite popular in the eastern Mediterranean source countries.
108.3 : This coin proves that, on certain occasions such as this, plated forgeries were struck in ancient times using official dies. It is entered in the corpus as group 3, 78c, its obverse die matching O 16 and its reverse die matching R 23. There are three more coins known from this pair of dies, two of them coming from documented hoards, “Zakynthos” and “Thessaly 1979”.
108.4 : It is difficult to think of this attractive coin (and the next one) as ancient forgeries although their weight is abnormally low. The silver does not seem to be debased as can happen in the case of other irregular issues (see for instance lot 262.1 below). As mentioned above, these two coins may be part of an unofficial or clandestine issue struck for a specific purpose although their style would make it difficult for them to be accepted anywhere else except in a context where Opuntian triobols would be practically unknown.
108.5 : Same dies as 108.4 above. Ex Viguier Fixed Price List, October 1986, no. 61 (FF 500).
108.6 : A reasonably convincing ancient forgery, imitating group 4 die combination 107 (corpus O 18 and R 37). See above, lot 51 for the genuine coin prototype. This fake though was found out for what it was as the gentle chop mark behind the head on the obverse testifies. Most of the silver plating is preserved and the coin has acquired a very dark tone (except in the high relief areas) making it difficult to distinguish between silver and bronze surfaces. It is interesting to note that the silver plating is thicker on the high relief part of the obverse, an area that is likely to be the first to wear out with circulation.
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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
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Lokris Hemidrachms Noted by BCD148 viewsModern Cast Fakes - 110.1 & 110.2
LOKRIS
LOKRI OPUNTII
Lot of five coins. 110.1 : AR 2.25 g., 11¢ and 110.2 : Æ 1.95 g., 11¢. Two modern (early 20th century?) cast hemidrachm forgeries, the first one in silver and the second one in bronze. Both from the same casting mould, copying group 12 dies. 110.3 : AR 2.48 g., 5¢. A hemidrachm of unusual “provincial” style, listed after group 12 in the corpus as “false?” 110.4 : AR 2.01 g., 5¢. Another hemidrachm of different fabric but struck from dies bearing some stylistic similarity to the previous coin. Corpus group 12, 357b corr. [not same dies (as noted) to the BCD piece listed as 357a]. 110.5 : AR 1.99 g., 6¢. A tetrobol of unusually coarse style, especially on the obverse where there are also traces of overstriking.
A varied and very interesting lot. Generally very fine. 110.1 : Acquired from Münzen und Medaillen AG, October 1985, for CHF 280 and said to be from an old English collection. This fake, being the silver version, is more carefully crafted and also has artificially added deposits. The obverse die was copied from an obverse as SNG Lockett 1703.
110.2 : The casting mould has deteriorated and this is obvious when this bronze cast is compared to its silver sibling above. There are edge splits at 10¢ and 12¢ on the reverse, as well as a die flaw between the right knee of Ajax and the monogram.
110.3 : Acquired from Spink’s, October 1986, for £ 120. Ex CH VIII, 338, pl. XLIII, 4 (this coin). A fascinating item that, if the hoard burial date is correct, could have been struck as late as the early 2nd century BC. The silver quality looks excellent and the obverse is beginning to tone in a pleasing manner.
110.4 : Ex Spink-Noble (Australia) 44, 23 March 1994, 2480 ($A 100). Another very interesting oddity, nicely toned and along the same lines as the above coin but with dies engraved by different artists. The weight of this one is too low to pass as a legitimate triobol but any fourth century triobols still circulating during the second century BC were probably worn down to similar weights. The silver content looks good and the pronounced concavity of the flan should also be noted.
110.5 : A lightweight tetrobol that does not stylistically belong to the group 1 tetrobols in spite of the trident symbol. Probably a later imitation, but in good silver.
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Phokis Triobol noted by BCD - Another Fake 84 viewsNAC 55 Lot 260
Fake Coin noted by BCD = 260.3
PHOKIS
FEDERAL COINAGE
PHOKIAN LEAGUE
Lot of three triobols, two genuine and one modern cast bronze forgery that has been silver-plated. 445 - 420 BC.
260.1 : AR 2.90 g., 12¢. 260.2 : AR 2.91 g., 9¢. 260.3 : AR (Æ) 2.55 g., 12¢. Frontal bull’s head, the hair in vertical lines. Rev. Head of Artemis r. in incuse square, [F]-O-K-[I] and [F-O-K]-I from top l. clockwise for the first and second, O and Φ (?) to l. and r. below for the third coin.
The two genuine coins lightly toned, the forgery with dark toning and contrasting
light surfaces on the high relief points. About very fine.
260.1 : Williams - (O.- / R.151). Williams post 258. The reverse die R.151 is here seen at an earlier state, before retouching.
260.2 : Williams - (O.- / R.151). Williams post 258. The reverse die R.151 has now been retouched and shows a larger nose.
260.3 : Ex Didier Dahirel Vente sur Offres March 1993, 110 (FF 1’000). Dies not in Williams. There is a gouge at the top of the head of Artemis that reveals the bronze core underneath. A peculiar modern forgery that has been copied from dies unknown to Williams at the time of the corpus (but now see lot 263.1 below). One would have thought that the forger would have picked a less ugly reverse as his model.
http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=419972
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Sicily, Naxos41 viewsSicily, Naxos. 430-420 b.C.
Ar tetradrachm 17,36g
Head of Dionysos r., bearded, wearing staphane decorated with ivy / Nude Silen sitting with kantharos and thyrsos staff, ivy in field l.; NAXION in field r.
Cahn 102-103
Sold as replica InAsta auction 48 06/03/2013 lot 7192
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Naxos, silver drachm, #A212 viewsAR drachm, 461-430 BC
Head of Dionysios right, wreathed with ivy and with long beard, hair in bunch behind: border of dots / N A XI ON, naked Silenos squatting facing, body inclined to left, looking left, left hand resting on knee, holding kantharos in raised right hand
BMC Sicily, pg 119, 10; Sear 873
Diameter: 20 mm
Weight: 8.50 grams
Material: Silver 999/1000
461 - 430 BC
Sold as a reproduction. Image courtesy of Pavel at AntiquaNova.
Submitted by Bluefish
Bluefish
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Naxos, [Cyclades], silver stater117 viewsObv:- Plain kantharos with bunch of grapes hanging from each handle and with ivy leaf above.
R:- Rough incuse square, quartered.
DATE: 530 - 490 BC, Sear 3057
Diameter: 2.30cm - Weight: 12gr Silver .999
Sold in December 2006 on Ebay by 'apollonians' as a . 999 silver exact copy
Submitted by Maridvnvm maridvnvm
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Naxos, silver drachm94 viewsAR drachm, 530-490 BC, Sear 727
Obv:- Ivy-wreathed head of Dionysus with pointed beard and long hair in form of dots falling over neck truncation of neck also dotted.Border of dots
Rev:- Bunch of grapes hanging from stalk between two leaves in field below, NAX-ION retrograde.Border of dots.
DATE: 520BC – 480BC
Modern replica
Sent for submission by Rupertmaridvnvm
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Naxos, silver tetradrachm173 viewsAR tetradrachm, 461-430 BC
Head of Dionysios right, wreathed with ivy and with long beard, hair in bunch behind: border of dots / N A XI ON, naked Silenos squatting facing, body inclined to left, looking left, left hand resting on knee, holding kantharos in raised right hand
Sear 872
Diameter: 2.50cm - Weight: 17gr - Material: Silver .999
Sold in December 2006 on Ebay by 'apollonians' as a . 999 silver exact copy
Submitted by Maridvnvm maridvnvm
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Sicily, Naxos24 viewsSicily, Naxos. 430-420 b.C.
Ar tetradrachm 16,9g
Head of Dionysos r., bearded, wearing staphane decorated with ivy / Nude Silen sitting with kantharos and thyrsos staff, ivy in field l.; NAXION in field r.
Cahn 102-103
Sold as replica InAsta auction 48 06/03/2013 lot 7194
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Naxos, silver drachm140 viewsAR drachm, 530-490 BC, Sear 727
Obv:- Ivy-wreathed head of Dionysus with pointed beard and long hair in form of dots falling over neck truncation of neck also dotted.Border of dots
Rev:- Bunch of grapes hanging from stalk between two leaves in field below, NAX-ION retrograde.Border of dots.
DATE: 520BC – 480BC
Diameter: 2.30cm - Weight: 12.5gr - Silver .999
Sold in December 2006 on Ebay by 'apollonians' as a . 999 silver exact copy
Submitted by Maridvnvm maridvnvm
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Sicily, Naxos45 viewsSicily, Naxos, circa 415 b.C.
Ar Tetradrachm, 17,18g
Bearded head of Dionysus r., hair bound with stephane adorned with ivy-wreath. / Bearded, naked Silenus, with pointed ears, ruffled hair and long tail, squatting on rock, facing; r. leg raised and l. folded to the side. He turns l. towards kantharos in his r. hand, while holding thyrsos in the l. In field to l., an ivy plant creeps upward, behind which the long tail is visible; to r. NAXION.
Cahn 99; Rizzo pl. 28, 16-18; Kraay-Hirmer pl. 3, 80; AMB 386
Sold as replica Nomisma auction 6, lot 3008
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Naxos, Sicily 36 viewsSicily, Naxos. Circa 530-510 BC.
AR Litra 10,82mm; 0,7g
Bearded head of Dionysos l. / NAXION. Bunch of grapes.
Cahn 12-32; SNG ANS 513
Modern forgery. Struck by modern fake dies, see report 15258 for a match.
Sold ebay as genuine on feb 2013
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Sicily, Naxos19 viewsSicily, Naxos. 430-420 b.C.
Ar tetradrachm
Head of Dionysos r., bearded, wearing staphane decorated with ivy / Nude Silen sitting with kantharos and thyrsos staff, ivy in field l.; NAXION in field r.
Cahn 99-103
Modern forgery
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Naxos Didrachm26 viewsSellers desc:
DIDRACHM - NAXOS
5.century B.C.
Replica coin in diameter 19.7mm.
Obv: Bearded head of Dionysus right, crowned with ivy, hair tied in krobylos at back of neck.SRukke
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