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Evidence of Casting - Sprue and Edge Seam4649 viewsIt was described on line as a Septimius Severus, silver drachm. The original is one of the die pairs listed AMNG I, 1, no. 1354. It is a silver simple 2-mold cast of an AE 18-19 of Nicopolis ad Istrum. This coin is reported in Roman Provincial category. The face of Apollo on the reverse was "improved", there is a seam between the two halves, and evidently a sprue, as well. Contributed by P.L. Patricia Lawrence (slokind)
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Evidence of Casting - An Example with Obvious Casting Flaws4227 viewsClick to see a larger image of an extreme example to help new collectors understand what soft details, etc. mean. All features are rounded. Nothing sharp. Everything blends into fields without distinct edges. It is fairly obvious the pits are not corrosion, but from air bubbles in the liquid metal. Even though the edge has been filed, there is still a trace of the seam. Posted on the boards by peterhill.
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Evidence of Pressing - GENUINE COIN - Strike Flow Lines (example on a genuine coin)3613 viewsThis is a genuine coin. Many modern fakes are not hand struck. They are pressed using a hydraulic or screw press. These presses compress the planchet and force the metal to fill the die just like striking, however, the process is slower and usually done with an unheated planchet. Striking by hand (particularly silver and with heated flans) results in metal flow lines as seen on this coin inside the red circled areas. A coin struck with a new fresh unused die will not show flow lines. The lines are actually worn into the die by flowing metal. The more worn the dies, the larger the flow lines you might expect to see. The dies used to strike this coin still have good detail but the flow lines are already fairly strong. This is fairly typical for the time period and is probably related to mint techniques of the era. Many genuine coins do not have flow lines as obvious as this coin, however, this coin is a good example for study. These lines are usually missing on pressed fakes and are often missing or reduced on cast fakes. Joe Sermarini
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Evidence of Casting - Comparison with Genuine Struck Original3523 viewsThe top coin is a cast fake. The bottom coin is an original struck coin. The genuine coin is sharp. No amount of wear could make the genuine coin look like the cast coin. The lack of detail on the cast coin is not wear on the high points; it is everywhere. The raised bubbles in the fields (nicknamed "pearls") are another indicator of casting. Joe Sermarini
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Evidence of Casting - Apparent Wear That Isn't Wear3237 viewsA cast Alexander the Great drachm and a cast Tiberius denarius "Tribute Penny." Both exhibit the typical soft edges and missing details of cast coins. While both superficially appear to be worn, the wear is equal on the high points and in protected recessed areas, which is impossible. There are no actual indications of circulation - tiny bumps and scratches.Joe Sermarini
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Evidence of Casting - Edge Filing3202 viewsFew examples of edge filing will be this obvious. Often there will be just a small area of filing that the forger missed in his later finer smoothing efforts.
Joe Sermarini
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Evidence of Casting - GENUINE COIN - Study Image of Edge Crease to Compare With Casting Seams3083 viewsSometimes when a coin is struck the metal on the edge folds or forms a crease. This picture shows a normal edge fold or crease, which looks a bit different from a casting seam. The coin is genuine.
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Evidence of Casting - Missing Details That Were Off-Flan on the Coin Used to Make the Mold3005 viewsThis is a pressure cast forgery made with molds created using the lost wax method. First a mold is made using a genuine coin. Copies are made in wax using that mold. The advantage of making wax copies is that the edge rim is easily removed from wax. In addition, small changes can be carved in the wax and new flan edges and shapes can be created for each copy. These wax coins are then used to make new molds each of which is unique and does not have a seam. Instead of splitting the mold creating a seam, the wax coin is melted and burned out of the mold. The mold must still have a sprue (and usually two per coin). The casting is then done in a centrifuge to eliminate most of the air bubbles and other evidence of casting. This pressure casting is not completely effective because under a microscope the evidence of casting is still visible. This coin has an obvious sign. The crest of Athena's helmet was off the flan on the original genuine coin used to create the first mold and wax copies. The forgers made the flan of this fake a little larger than the original in the area above the helmet from 9:00 to 12:00, but the forgers did not recognize this area of the flan should not be featureless and flat. It should have the more of the helmet's crest, which is visible only from 8:00 to 9:00.
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Evidence of Pressing - Lacking the Imperfections of Hand Striking2818 viewsMany modern forgeries are not hand struck, they are machine pressed. Pressed coins normally have strangely flat fields, a lack of flow lines, no doubling, no slippage, uniform strike (no flat areas), and uniform thickness. Often these coins are also very well centered. Slavey coins are pressed (to see more pressed coins use the search function and search for Slavey).
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Evidence of Casting - Cast Fake or Genuine Original?2758 viewsSharpness in some areas looks more struck than cast. Overall, it certainly has the characteristics of a cast. Sometimes, however, these characteristics also result from wear and corrosion. Most likely the authenticity of this coin could be determined quickly in hand. But sometimes it just isn't possible to determine if a coin is genuine, especially from a photo alone. Our recommendation is simply not to buy coins like this from anyone except the most reputable dealers. Note: This coin IS fake.Joe Sermarini
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Late Roman bronze coins2579 views7 late Roman bronze fakes from YugoslaviaMarius
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Artificial Patina on Forgery - Skillfully Applied2577 viewsThe artificial patina on this forgery was skillfully applied. An artificial patina is often helpful in detecting forgeries. Fortunately most do not look as natural as this patina. This patina would be difficult to detect as artificial on a genuine coin. We know it is fake because the coin is fake.
Often artificial patinas are created by replicating (but speeding up) the actions of nature. Chemically they may be identical to a patina produced by nature. But nature usually creates more variables than a person slapping on chemicals. A natural patina usually has more variaiton in color and texture. Joe Sermarini
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Evidence of Casting - A Clear Example of Soapy Soft Details2406 viewsObvious cast for study. Syracuse tetradrachm.
Imagine a fancy bar of soap made as sort of an over-sized coin replica. (Fancy hand soap for the guest bathroom!). After people use the soap a dozen times the sharp details are lost, not just on the high points but everywhere. Coins do not wear like a bar of soap, they wear on the high points while protected areas stay sharp. This coin perfectly demonstrates the "soapy" look.
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WRL - Westair Reproductions Ltd2144 viewsReproduction marked with WRL (Westair Reproductions Limited).
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Evidence of Casting - Identical Flan Shape (Edges)2131 viewsEvidence of Casting - Identical Coins. For all but the most expensive fakes a forger will want to sell more than one copy. Completely identical edges are impossible in two different genuine struck ancient coins. These two coins must therefore be cast modern fakes. (They also have other characteristics of cast coins.)Joe Sermarini
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Late Roman bronze coins1989 views7 late Roman bronze fakes from YugoslaviaMarius
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Evidence of Casting - Low Weight1986 viewsSyracuse, silver dekadrachm, Dewing 898ff. esnible noted:
This is a cast fake.
First, the weight [34 grams] is too low for the coin to be genuine.
Second, casts have less detail that struck coins in similar grade. Compare to this genuine example: [ http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=2860&AucID=6&Lot=109 ]. Note how this coin has less detail, especially in the crevasses that are not worn.
Third, it looks like there are similar-sized bubbles throughout the coin. Although 'bubbles' can also indicate corrosion, it should be a warning sign if they are evenly distributed throughout the coin.
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Evidence of Casting - Sand Cast - Fuzzy, Lightweight, Filing, Casting Bubbles (Pits)1971 viewsHere is a picture of a sand cast fake, showing all the good hallmarks.
1. Fuzzy details
2. Light weight and small size (it's about 15mm and 1.5gm)
3. Filed off edge
4. Casting pits
Originally posted on the boards by Feathers.Joe Sermarini
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Evidence of Casting - GENUINE COIN - Study Image of Genuine Corrosion and Flaking1932 viewsCompare this with cast examples to gain a clearer understanding of the differences between casting bubbles and defects and corrosion. Also, Curtis Clay noted of this coin, "It's very hard to reproduce that corrosion and flaking." This coin demonstrates how genuine corrosion, flaking and aging can be used to determine that a coin is genuine.
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Lipanoff(?) - Modern Fake Dies1895 viewsThese pictures are reversed images of fake dies. These false dies were struck from false hubs, rather than cut. (Actually, #2 is of a false hub). The montage was made by mirror-reversing digital photos of the dies. These dies were for sale in 2005.
1. Orbiana, wife of Severus Alexander (222-235 AD) from 225 to 227 AD.
2. Otacilia Severa, wife of Philippus Arabs (244-249 AD).
3. Marcus Aurelius as Caesar, 139-161 AD.
4. Domitianus (81-96 AD).
5. Traianus (98-117 AD).
6. Iulia Mamaea, mother of Severus Alexander, murdered in 235 AD.
7. Gordianus II. (238 AD).
8. Young Caracalla as Augustus, after 198 AD.
9. Plautilla, wife of Caracalla (196/198-217 AD) from 202 to 205 AD.
10. Gallienus as Augustus, joint reign with his father 254-260 AD.
11. PRINC IVVENTVTIS-reverse.
#2 seems to match http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=473 and http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=472
#4, which I incorrectly reversed, might match http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=233 and http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=234
#8 seems to match http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=95 and http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=168 also very close to a Slavey pictured in Modern Couterfeits and replicas of ancient greek and roman coinsfrom Bulgaria by Ilya Prokopov, Kostadin Kissyov, Eugeni Paunov, Sofia, 2003, number 144.
#9 seems to match http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=504 and http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=505 (although the letter A looks different)
#11 is close to number 108, denarius of Maximus illustrated in : Contemporary Coins Engravers and Coin Master from Bulgaria, "Lipanoff" Sudio, by Ilya Prokopov, Sofia, 2004.
Joe Sermarini
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Evidence of Casting - Bubbles on Edge1861 viewsCasting bubbles on edge.Ilya Prokopov
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Slavey - Octavian1854 viewsModern forgery by Slavey Petrov of AR denarius of Octavian, 30-29 BC, 18mm, 3.3g
obv: anegigraphic with bare head of Octavian, r.
rev: naval trophy composed of helmet, cuirass, shield, and crossed spears, the whole set upon prow of galley, r. IMP-CAESAR in fields
cf: RIC 265a, RSC 119
Offered at auction, June 2011 but withdrawn.
commodus
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Licinius - 6 examples from the same fake dies1825 viewsThis particular fake keeps returning to the market. The 6 specimens figured here have all been offered on eBay. The one on the lower right is out right now, seller ID fvecsey, eBay item #170031747637. I asked the seller and he insist he metal detected it in northern Hungary. If so, it was planted there. The lower left specimen is a "lead strike". All 6 specimens are from the same dies. The "coin" is a fantasy product, no similar genuine coin exists.
If you know of further specimens of this particular die pair, I would be grateful for images.romeman
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Evidence of Casting - A Cast Fake Collection - Wrong Metal, Soft Details, Edge Seems, Raised Rims1766 viewsThis "Collection" was offered to Forum for sale. All the coins are cast. Most are the wrong metal - the originals were silver. All have the soft details of cast coins. Many have easy to see seams on the edge. Many have raise rims on the obverse that are not found on genuine coins. These are some of the most common replicas we see. Click on the photo to see a nice BIG enlargement.Joe Sermarini
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