Roman Counterfeiter's Dies

Is there something illegal about selling the means to create numismatic forgeries?

They do exist though very rare and mostly in muesum collections. There was a thread here some time ago that showed some. I'll see if I can locate it.

This looks more like a mold set to cast fakes rather than dies to strike fakes.

If these are genuine ancient counterfeit dies, then using them to strike fake coins would be foolish. Metal embrittlement would mean they are no longer capable of withstanding the pressure they once were.

As for the more general question of the legality of selling dies for fake coins, it depends on which country you're in. In America, the only counterfeiting equipment you're not allowed to buy or sell is for coins "in likeness or similitude" to US coins. Fake ancient and foreign coin dies are perfectly OK.


Here's one, with a matched pair of dies of Augustus.

That's not a die, rather a mold ("mould" for you Brits). It is made of terracotta (clay) and formed by pressing genuine coins. See my site:

http://esty.ancients.info/numis/molds.html

for more about molds for counterfeits.