| ANCIENT HORSE Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Mediaeval coins from the Balkans Milenko Art Studio, Charlottesville,Virginia milenkostudio@earthlink.net www.artsandcoins.com |
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| How to Recognize a Fake Coin |
| Since the beginning of coinage, there have been forgeries and there always will be.This is human nature. We can count on that. Today, we have generally divided coin forgery into two types: 1.Ancient Forgery 2.Modern Forgery |
| 1.Ancient Forgery |
| Ancient Forgery, also called Contemporary Counterfeits, was produced at the same time as the originals, ofen in same mint! Today we have many theories on who do that and why. For me there is only one answer: for profit. Profit for the mint or for individuals. The forged coins were struck on bronze or copper and covered with silver, and rarely with gold. In ancient times, the punishment for counterfeiters was often death. Obviously, that did not stop them. We use the French name fourree ( fu-ray) (plated) coin. They are collectible today and very pricey. |
| Ancient Coins Forgery |
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| Roman Republic Mn. Fonteius silver denarius fourree 108-107 B.C. |
| We can see copper core exsposed where silver flaked off. |
| 2. Modern Forgery |
| Modern Forgery is more complex than Ancient Forgery. First we have two groups : A - Forgery made not to deceive and B - Forgery made to deceive. |
| A - Forgery made not to deceive |
| This group of forgery is perfectly legal. In this group fit all coins that are marked COPY, R (for replica) or SILVER, pressed to the surface or edge of the coin. Those coins are made for souvenirs at museums, as commemoratives, for school studies, jewelry, arts etc. The problem starts when someone files off COPY or other inpressed words and declare that the coin is genuine. Then that coin is no longer in this category, it is in category B: Forgery made to deceive. |
| Septimius Severus A.D. 193 - 211 Replica of a silver denarius made in silver. Note WR pressed into the neck |
| B - Forgery made to deceive |
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| Coin of Alexander the Great forgery made in silver for jewelry. Note in the left field is pressed the word SILVER |
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| Greek coin silver drachma forgery made in silver as jewelry. Note at the front edge is pressed the word SILVER on the surface of the coin. |
| Our focus will be on this group of forgery. To find an answer for the main question from above : How to recognize a fake coin? First we need to learn how fake coins are made. |
| Coins forgery can be made by: a) CASTING b) ELECTROTYPE c) STRUCKING |
| The best way to protect yourself against forgery is to educate yourself. |
| CASTING |
| Forgers use the same method that jewelers use to cast pieces of jewelry. Basically they make a mold from an original, and pour melted metal into the form. For more on this consult the many publications written on how to cast jewelry. |
| The weakness of this method is that the two sides of the mold need be put together. |
| WARNING SIGNS: Look for a seam on the edge of the coin or for tracings of file, that will give the first indication that something is wrong with this type of coin.. |
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| A seam on the edge of the coin is a clear indication that the coin is a cast forgery. |
| Look for a round pitted surface. Air-bubbles are trapped in melted metal, and during the cooling process they escaped to the surface, thus creating small round pits. |
| Look for raised lumps of metal in places where they should not be. During the process of pouring melted metal into the mold, sometimes some small parts of metal end up in the wrong place. |
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| A piece of molten metal on the edge of the coin is a warning that the coin is a modern forgery. |
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| Look for the wrong weight. For the forger it is a big problem to reproduce the exact weight of the original coin. Especially in silver and gold the forged coin is always the wrong weight. |
| CENTRIFUGAL CASTING |
| A coin can be cast under pressure to eliminate the problems of pitted surface or soft relief. |
| WARNING SIGNS: |
| Look at cracks ( if the coin has any). If a crack has soft edges that do not fit one side to the other, something is wrong. Also a crack is shorter than it appears, because it is filled with molten metal. |
| ELECTROTYPE |
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| Electrotype is electroplating a thin layer of metal on a mold to get two halves of the two sides of the coin. Like at the casting metod, two parts must be fused together. The result is a perfect copy of the original. |
| WARNING SIGNS: |
| Look for the seam on the edge of the coin. |
| Look for wrong weight, because in this type of forgery, the coin is very light. |
| The British Museum issued a large quantity of electrotype reproductions of ancient coins from the museum's collection. These coins are marked with an R or RR on the edge. Unfortunately, many of these end up on the world coin market as represented as genuine coins. |
| Just a note: Metropoliten Museum of Art in New York in the 50's and 60's made a replica of a famous and popular coin : Athenian tetradrachm. Of course today this coin is on the world market as represented as genuine. |
| WARNING SIGNS: |
| When a coin is made of brass, this is the wrong metal. Look for a dimple in the center and seams on the edge. |
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| British Museum electrotype replica of silver tetradrachm of Gela |
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| Metropolitan Museum replica of Athenian tetradrachm |
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| Modern forgery in wrong metal. Follis of Diocletian. |
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| This coin is an Athenian dekadrachm c.467-465 B.C. Beautiful, rare and expensive. Everything looks perfect, but the forger made just one mistake: the coin weighs 36.6 grams, while an authentic coin weighs more than 40 grams. |
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| Cilicia Tarsos Mazaios Stater 361 - 334 B.C. |
| Ancient coins are made by hand. Each one is unique. Two coins exactly alike do not exist If you find duplicates, you have found a forgery, such as these two beautiful forgeries . |
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| It is possible, however, that one is original, and was used to make the mold for a forged one, but in that case the forged one must be smaller, because of shrinkage. |
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| Philip II, father of Alexander the Great |
| Alexander the Great and Bucephalus |