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 Replies: 23 / Views: 3,135 |
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Valued Member
Netherlands
59 Posts |
Hi everybody, I'm a historical archaeology student from the Netherlands. During the course of my medieval history thesis about coin circulation, I became interested in collecting coins for myself - especially Roman ones, an era I am not particularly familiar with. As I am a beginning collector with few shops in the neighbourhood, I deemed it a good idea to start my search on the wonderful world of ebay. As understand now, ebay is rife with fakes. That is why I would like your opinion on the following item I bought from a US seller for about $15 USD. I know this forum is not intended solely for this, and I do hope to become a contributing member. As it stands now though, I'm slightly anxious about expanding my collection from online auction stuff. Am I correct in assuming that for 15 usd, the following item was too good to be true?   Thank you very much for your opinion. As you can imagine - students aren't the richest of folk, especially those studying archaeology. Still, I can't pass up on the chance to sometimes try and purchase a bit of amazing history and having the chance to identify it. If you can recommend me any sources on ancient coins (other than the major ones such as AORTA and Sears) and forgeries, that'd me most welcome. If any other Dutch person here can recommend me trustworthy and enthousiastic coin sellers in the Netherlands, that'd be great too! Thanks a bunch, Michael Edited by MichaelS
04/01/2014 10:31 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4981 Posts |
mmmmmmm...looks strange to me. the style is a little off and the legend doesn't look right...but please wait for an expert opinion.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
 to the community The coin looks OK to me. Constantine I. |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
Too Coin Community, and I admire your chosen line of education :). I cannot verify whether the coin is indeed fake or real, there are members who have a greater experience in that. However I can give you an image of your coins details, and a reference picture in this link:- http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotvi...fa874f72c930Personally I can't see it being a fake, the differing orientation of the reverse and obverse plus the general wear on the coin makes me think that. Also your pictures are in differing contrasts, so I presume both sides are the same contrast in hand. However as I have said, I'm no authority on this so I'd await other expert opinions. As unfortunately as you mentioned there are a plenty of fraudulent coins that are rife throughout many areas of coin selling. I think you as an archaeology student may enjoy buying uncleaned Roman coins in small bulks, won't cost a fortune. Then you can clean them and bring them back to life yourself :). Just throwing that option in there. Edited by awallin01
04/01/2014 11:33 am
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Valued Member
 Netherlands
59 Posts |
Thank you all kindly for your opinions so far. The coin itself has not arrived yet so I have not had the chance to check it out under a 10x doublet.
The reason I suspected it was a fake because 1. 15 USD seems too good to be true for a coin so amazingly detailed (although I did win it at a sniping auction). 2. As chrsmat71 said; the style looks off compared to the reference models (RIC VII 198 out of my head), with especially those ball-things at the back of his head especially enlarged. That said, I only used wildwinds.com as a reference.
If it is indeed not a fake, I consider myself very lucky with such a nice specimen.
And Awallin01; you're right! I really do want to try cleaning coins. There was not anything coin-related in my entire archaeology curriculum though, let alone cleaning. So I'd have the same experience tools most beginners have - none.
Thanks again everyone. I'm hoping for the expert replies, but your replies so far have been most helpful.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
Michael I'm awaiting my first batch of uncleaned ancients, I have zero experience. But have gained knowledge from this site, there are topics on here teaching methods of cleaning ancients.
I believe you're correct about the reference, click the link in my above post it has what I believe is a match on you coin :). I was also looking at the balls on the back of the wreath, it may well be perspective of the picture causing that. Also with wear the balls will look flatter giving the appearance of a larger surface area, compared with a more half spherical ball.
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Valued Member
Netherlands
59 Posts |
Thank you very much. I read your reply on a cellphone and I did not see the link. Great resource by the way, coinarchives - will have to bookmark that.
I like your explanation about the spheres. Furthermore, after comparing the coin to other comparable coins for sale at vcoins I see that 15 USD is a good deal but nothing out of the ordinary for a coin like this.
Awallin, I'm looking forward to reading your experiences on cleaning your first batch.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4981 Posts |
i wouldn't be suspicious of the price michaels, 15 dollars is about right for a coin of that type in that condition I would say.
looking at the legend was strange, but it it ...
"CONSTANTI-NVSMAXAVG"
wich is a constantine legend, I thought it was "NOBAVG" which would have been screwy. I'm sure everyone else is correct and the coin is ok, I hope I didn't worry you.
ric vii thessalonica 183 maybe?
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
I can't wait :D, I think the process is a long one though-but worth it.
Regarding the spheres, I think we shall call it Coin Relativity :).
Edited by awallin01
04/01/2014 12:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
I agree with the others, cleaning a small batch of uncleaned coins is a great way to learn, it can take a long time to do with much patience and as a budding archaeologist you should have plenty of that!
I appreciate that as a student you are on a tight budget. If you see a collection of uncleaned coins that you are interested in bidding for, post a picture or link on the forum and you will get advice as to whether it is a good buy or not.
For cleaning coins, you don't need too much in the way of tools. Plastic tubs for soaking, toothpick (moving up to a scalpel once you are more proficient) a brush (I use a makeup blusher brush) and some form of magnification. You might be able to borrow the University stereo microscopes. You need either distilled water or de-mineralised water for soaking. In the UK de-mineralised water, for car batteries, is cheaper than distilled water.
Once you have cleaned and identified your coin, they need to be kept somewhere safe in a non-pvc flip or envelope.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
Nice information pishpash, I have a dormant microscope :). Just need some de-mineralised water. I even have a scalpel & pick from the microscope accessories.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
You need to keep those blades sharp. A blunt blade will cause no end of problems.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
Will do, I have a blade sharpener. But the scalpel is definitely razor sharp, and the pick is like a needle on a handle. They were for bisecting/dissecting things, so I will disinfect them-then rinse them through some warm water cycles to rid them of any unwanted chemicals.
Thank-you pishpash for the information, it is very useful-and gives my microscope a new lease of life :).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
Most of the fakes on ebay come from a few people/places. There are large reputable dealers who sell large quantities of ancient coins on ebay. We do have at least one fellow around here who resides in the Netherlands and goes by the moniker 'Dutchgulden' hopefully he will see this and make his talents available to you. The coin you bought is a very nice little Constantine the Great by the way and will give you great enjoyment I am sure. Most Constantines of this type are rather plentiful and you need not worry too much about fakes. There have been some rather gem looking ones popping up of late coming from Eastern Europe. If you post a pic here there are several experts in these types who can give you a quicky opinion. The best rule of thumb is when the coin looks like it was made yesterday you should hesitate a moment as it may have actually been made last week ! With very little effort you will learn how to recognize the types of patina and encrustation which would take much too much effort for someone to fake on a coin selling for only 10-20 euros. When the prices rise to 1000 euros people will spend many 'man' hours to make it look real. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
By the way your coin appears to have a very pleasing olive green color. This is considered a big plus. Different people have favorite patina colors. Brown Black Green Blue even. This type of patina is much better than bare metal.When cleaning remember bare metal is very bad. Bare metal is acceptable in more modern coins while ancient coins of bronze really should have a protective layer of patination. Like a fine statue in the park it would not look right if it was shiny metal. Fake patina will usually wash away with alcohol or acetone but a thick natural patina is the best condition for a collector.
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Valued Member
Netherlands
59 Posts |
Thanks everybody - you were all very reassuring. I especially like the tips about cleaning coins too. I will let you all know that turns out. I'm glad to know Constantinian coins are plentiful (which is what I thought based on the huge amount of stuff on ebay) as it's one of my favourite dynasties. Wanted to share with you another lot that I bought, too. It's an expensive hobby - but incredibly fun and hopefully rewarding in knowledge. I was a lot more certain about the legitimacy of these coins based on the sellers reputation and the wear. Hopefully you'll agree that these are pretty nice to start off with, too.  Thanks again! I'm guessing my first collection will start off with Constantinian theme based on the stuff I now have. :) |
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Replies: 23 / Views: 3,135 |
Posted 04/01/2014 11:29 am
