| Author |
 Replies: 7 / Views: 2,812 |
|
|
New Member
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
I recently acquired a roman coin, as a complete newbie to the world of coin collecting I now find myself lost as to how to go about verifying its authenticity etc. Any help would be appreciated :) An internet search lasting quite a few hours revealed this coin http://www.cngcoins.com/Bid.aspx?ITEM_ID=103749its the same type of coin I have except mine looks in far better condition and shows more detail. Image:  coin.jpg17.64 KB My scanner doesn't do the coin justice, its a lot better than the pics show. |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
2703 Posts |
It is very, very hard to tell much from the scans. From my first impression, I would guess that it is a modern reproduction. The fields look too flat, toning too even, and the coin just doesn't have the irregularities characteristic of an ancient coin. I could be wrong, we need a better picture. It is unlisted in ForgeryNetwork. There are some genuine examples in Wildwinds. |
|
New Member
 United Kingdom
4 Posts |
thanks for the reply, I tried to get a better pic but my digi camera just makes it look blurred, I'll try a friends. I did find a copy of a similar coin that is also unlisted on those databases here, but its still not a match for mine http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Denarius-of-M...py_W0QQitemZ250114559439QQihZ015QQcategoryZ4734QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Edited by Mag
05/24/2007 7:51 pm
|
|
Moderator
Australia
16837 Posts |
There is a cast fake of this type reported on the FORVM fake database, it looks fairly porous and grainy - a typical cast fake. I can't tell if your coin has a similar texture. Being a coin depicting two of the most famous people in antiquity, it's probably been copied quite a lot down through the ages. Your next step for verifying authenticity would be to post some nice clear pictures of your coin on the FORVM fakes forum. If you bought this coin on ebay, there's also a list of known sellers of fake ancient coins there on that forum. If you want personal verification of your coin, one of the most widely respected is David Sear's Ancient Coin Certification Service. It costs US$40 and you have to ship it to America, so I'd only go to such lengths if there were at least some indications from the forums that it was likely to be genuine. In the UK, the British Museum offers an identification service, which is free (which is awfully nice of them), but they're not in any position to offer a guarantee on the coins they authenticate. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
New Member
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
Thanks Sap,
I think you have saved me a lot of time,when I compare my coin to the one on the fake database I can see a few marks that exist on both coins, the main one being a cut on the right hand edge of the marc antony side.
Mine doesn't look so porous and it has a more defined detail on marc antony's neck.
All in all though I would now guess its a fake.
On the plus side I've learned quite a bit about roman coins over the past few days and I've enjoyed it,so much in fact that I'm now going to get my deceased uncles coin collection out of the cupboard where it has been gathering dust and see what I can find out about the 200 or so walletted coins he had collected.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2703 Posts |
Hi Mag,
The members of CFDL (Coin Forgeries Discussion List) on yahoo groups will also give you valuable information on authenticity if you can provide a clearer picture or scanner image.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
70 Posts |
If you're near the British Museum they'll take a look & give you an opinion (at least they used to). A clearer image would be very helpful as far as getting help online goes. I messed with your image a bit, but it really need to be a bigger scan (scan at like 200-300%).  |
|
New Member
United Kingdom
4 Posts |
I've tried everything to get the scanner to scan without losing detail and going out of focus, this image is the best it can do, I scanned it at its highest res but it has still flattened and blurred some detail. Also in order to see more detail I have applied a sharpen mask and this has introduced a lot of grain into the pics making it look even more like the fake coin. Image: coins2.jpg25.87 KB |
| |
Replies: 7 / Views: 2,812 |
|
coin.jpg
Posted 05/24/2007 7:35 pm
coins2.jpg
