2020, June 22:  A page on barbarous radiates of the Gallo-Roman empire, c. 259-274. Ebay is flooded with fakes lately. Some counterfeits were made by casting and some ancient molds are still extant. Barbaric imitations (usually struck in 4th century Britain or Gaul) are not classed as fakes ! We have a wide range of dealers selling Roman coins. Bronze Roman coins can be bought for just a few dollars. siliqua, clipped siliqua. Fourées are even older than coinage itself – plated base metal bars have been found that were made to imitate ingots of precious metal used as currency before the introduction of coins. 14dc. Reverse: Two warriors fighting, the one on the left protecting a fallen comrade. Coins of the 3rd or 4th century A.D. are the less faked. Magnentius and Decentius (AD 350-353) Some tips:the most faked coins are gold and silver coins because they are the most expensive. Much of the coinage of Roman Britain was locally and unofficially produced. This site discusses and illustrates imitations of Roman coins from c. 400 BC to c. AD 500 (with a few Greek coins at the end). Links to off-site webpages can be found on my page about references. Most seem to have one single area of "wear", Characteristics of the reverse of the fake coins are also a giveaway, for example. This includes any and all marks, scratches or other issues on the surface of the genuine coin.   This coin:  A 17 mm coin imitating a coin of Tetricus. Counterfeits made for profit and intended to deceive usually imitate silver coins (denarii) with pieces of much less intrinsic value. The most famous ancient coin forger of the early modern era was Karl Wilhelm Becker (1772-1830), who produced high-quality, hand-struck struck fakes of some 300 different Greek, Roman … There is not a full-site search engine.     This piece: Commodus, Severan and later (AD 193 - 253) fourrés mostly from the Balkans You can also detect the fake coins from the original one collected from a reliable source. Imitations include: With modern coins a counterfeiter has a big challenge because the coins were made by machines and each is … Coins were regularly counterfeited throughout the entire Roman period. Some of the important fake symbols of the coins include incorrect marks of the mint, wrong lettering on the coins and variation on the thickness in the coins. A fake coin often looks too clean to be 2,000 years old. I am not actively working on it. This piece: Crispus.     This piece: Magnentius FELICITAS REIPVBLICE, Plated siliquae and solidi Some coins seen to have been shaken in soot (black areas which stain your fingers and which wash off under running water). Go there and enter in the identification (for example, the name of the Roman emperor or the name of the Greek city) in the search box. I feel that if I pay ten or twenty bucks for a coin or a lot of coins (that I can't spot as obviously bad fakes), then I don't lose really much if the coin turns out to be fake. Terms and links within this site.     This piece: Spanish Republican semis, British Claudian AE   and earlier AE imitations of Augustus, Agrippa, etc. If you buy a cheap Roman coin (for less than 100 US dollars) there is a smaller chance that it is a fake. Some are tourist fakes, and usually sold as such and some were made so the common person could have an example of a terribly rare coin that would normally not ever be available.     This piece: Licinius All rights reserved. Even the most obvious fakes can easily fool anyone who is not a trained expert. If you want to use some of it, please ask. Ebay do NOTHING - they are apparently more interested in their sales fees than protecting the innocent buyer - but if enough people write, maybe they will shift their backsides now and again and do something about it. Visit other websites such as the ones mentioned on the main page to compare the coins you are thinking of buying, with genuine ones. Counterfeit coins were made for several reasons in the past. (One fake seller in Germany was raking in over 12,000 Euros a month selling fakes, until the police caught up with him). These roman coins come in various denominations, from the small as to the major denarius many of which feature the bust of the ruling emperor when the coin was first struck in history. Fourree: 19-18 mm.      GLORIA EXERCITVS,   VRBS ROMA,   CONSTANTINOPOLIS,   mules. About the only way to spot a fake Roman coin is with a gold and silver testing kit. Fake coins, made in ancient times, are a different subject, and were created to be counterfeits. This piece: Claudius as, Other 1st and 2nd century AE imitations To summarize, you can have a coin with a degenerate style, a weight and a small diameter, a metal other than that of the official coins, which is a fake … The colour of the metal where you scratched is bright golden, not yellowish-brown as it would be with an genuine ancient bronze coin. This section includes all coins classified as Roman Republican, Roman Imperiatorial, Roman Imperial and Roman Provincial coins, from anonymous coinage from the 4th century BC, all through the end of the Roman Empire. These reproduction coins have the same weight, metal alloy and fineness in detail, as the originals from the historical era. Counterfeit coins are nothing new to the world of coin collecting; they have been around for centuries (if not millennia). If you don't known this ancient coin forum, I highly recommend you join to learn more about known fakes of ancient coins. Ancient Imitations of Roman Coins An educational site about genuinely ancient coins that were imitations or counterfeits in their day One way to make a profit by counterfeiting coins is to replace precious silver with inexpensive copper, while maintaining the appearance of good silver.      This piece:  Domitian. Hi While I am still allowed to buy, I noticed that eBay does nothing on many fake coins sellers who are selling bundles of fake american coins direclty via eBay and I am worried that these sellers will flood american land with fakes and fakes where it … The one on the left is an ancient counterfeit with a copper-core silver-plated and then struck to make a convincing imitation of the genuine full-silver coin on the right. Limes-falsa of the second and third centuries Many counterfeits are not deceptive because their designs are so much cruder than official coins or their sizes are so much smaller than the official coins. Under a plea agreement with Manhattan prosecutors, Ivy League surgeon Arnold-Peter Weiss The Manhattan District Attorney’s office returned $200,000 worth of ancient coins to the Greek government Monday. 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