Counterfeit? Justin II Coin...i Need Your Expertise Please.

Thanks for your response and conterfeit comparison photos. Yes buying on ebay can be risky. There have been a lot of Indian head and Liberty head fakes going around. I just had an honest seller back out on a $5 Liberty Head because the color looked off. He had it checked out and it was one of the best fakes the experts have seen. Do you have any suggestions of where else I can buy old U.S. gold coins?

My concern with this coin is the waist of the figure on the reverse. The waist looks too skinny. Also on the reverse, the left arm right where the bicep is there is a X shape (maybe leather straps hanging from the arm) The variations I have seen do not have that X shape on the left arm. What are your thoughts on this?

Here it the closest variation that I could find that is somewhat similar to my coin.

I agree with giano in that I see nothing wrong with your coin but I am not in any way skilled at spotting counterfeit Byzantine gold so my opinion is completely that I see nothing wrong but not that I believe the coin is good. That is a problem you will find in ancients. There are a million different ones in a thousand different specialties. I have collected ancients since the early 1960's yet have never actually handled a Justin gold. The best defense against fakes is to buy from a trusted source until you, yourself develop a feel for the kind of coins you are buying to a point that you risk shopping elsewhere. I buy many coins on ebay but few Byzantine and none are gold. To me, your coin looks good but that speaks as much about my shortcomings as it does the coin.

Take a look at this link. It is a fake of the same coin as yours. Although the strike is different and light, it makes me suspicious. I hope I'm wrong on this.

http://forgerynetwork.com/viewasset...20&srchall=0

As far as design goes on ancient coins, you often can't really make exact determinations on design for fake detection like you can with USA coins. With the exception of a few die varieties and error coins.

I have already noticed that a lot of ancient coins of the same type and ID can be slightly different because in a particular workshop they also used a lot of different hand engraved dies. Some of them were probably hastily made to meet the production schedules. While another would be quite well made and some of them, depending on who engraved the die could be quite artistic even for the particular coin. One would look a lot more artistic than other coins of the same type while another could be somewhat crude by comparison.

Then again some coins follow pretty close to exact designs.

All this is just speculation on my part and don't take it for an exact truth. I am new to ancient coin collecting myself and have been doing as much reading as I can to learn more.

I was advised to stay away from silver for now, not to mention gold. I am following that good advice and mostly collecting copper alloy AE coins.

The majority of times I will buy off of trusted sellers that I bought from before who have a really high rating and who allow returns. But I have gotten some conterfeit $2.50 indian heads too from those types of sellers. There are fakes out there that are even made out of 22k gold. I have been told that some Arab countries have been transforming gold coins into US coins should confiscation occur in the future. Maybe true of false, I don't know.

This is the first coin I have bought in this time period. I usually stick with US coins from trusted sellers. This coin I did not buy from a seller that I knew. He does sell different high end coins/products. Also it was listed as weighing at 4.5 grams. It probably was cleaned at some point a long time ago, but it does have a patina on it. It came in a really old flip with written details that states:

Justin II
Nov. 565 to 5 Oct. 578 AD
A) Solidus
Constantinopolis
Choice AU
S-345

(Also I paid $350)


I'm very thankful to find a website like this where collectors can come together and help each other out. Thank you everyone for your continued responses and taking time out of your day to help me.

to the community

At first glance of your coin I was going to say it looked genuine, however looking at it more closely I think that it is a forgery.

Byzantine coinage is not noted for it's style and detail, but they did pay a little more attention to their gold coins. Your coin seems to lack that attention to detail. The lettering is crude. The line that divides the exergue does not extend across the whole coin. The Globus is not formed and is just a glob of metal. These to me are signs that the coin is a fake.

The only way that you are going to know for sure is to take the coin the an expert and have them look at it.

echizento, Thank you very much for your opinion. Those are some very good points that you raise. I see exactly what you are talking about. Unfortunately there are no coin shops/experts in my area. I'm hoping someone else on this forum can give me one more validation before I decide to return the coin.