Weight Of Maximinus II Coins - Am I Right To Be Suspicious?

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,070
gerio2 Valued Member United Kingdom 112 Posts	Posted 06/04/2022 09:40 am I've just been offered an ebay reduction on a Maximinus follis, Antioch mint, ca. 312 AD. The historical context, the year before his defeat by Licinius and his death made it interesting. Careful examination of the photos seemed to show it was genuine and, seeing the rest of his stock, so did the seller (who is not on any lists). His other stock looks very interesting. I was about to buy it but then saw the seller was in E. Europe. As we now have to pay import duty on some items from Europe (I'm in the UK). It also seemed rather odd that ebay told me he was only 10 miles away from me and the Bulgarian location only appeared in small print at the bottom of the post. I stopped to think further and then noticed the seller gave the weight as 2.6g. I decided to check V Coins for the same date and type. Those all come in at 4.5-5g. I've checked 5 or 6 - all the same. No exceptions. That makes me think it's not bronze, and so a fake. Am I right to be suspicious? Edited by gerio2 06/04/2022 12:40 pm Report this Post to the Staff

JohnConduitt Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 725 Posts	Posted 06/04/2022 3:38 pm On the one hand, some variation in bronze follis weights is normal e.g. http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.6.anch.71b On the other, sellers in Bulgaria, particularly those that try to hide their location, are not a good bet. There are some notorious sellers of fakes with that description. Report this Post to the Staff
Kushanshah Pillar of the Community United States 1554 Posts	Posted 06/04/2022 5:18 pm Trafficking in ancient coins is a very serious crime in Bulgaria. Some Bulgarian sellers on ebay offer genuine coins but disguise their location to avoid law enforcement. ebay buyers should be aware that conspiracy to import illicit goods may be a crime in their own country. As already noted, there are also many sellers of fake coins in Bulgaria. They sometimes disguise their location because Bulgaria is infamous among collectors as a hotbed of ancient coin counterfeiting. Caveat emptor. Edited by Kushanshah 06/04/2022 5:23 pm Report this Post to the Staff
gerio2 Valued Member United Kingdom 112 Posts	Posted 06/05/2022 03:33 am http://goccf.com/t/422908#3640734 Thanks John. Useful resource - I'll mark it for future reference. I've checked the exact type. Yes, there's variation (4-5g) but nothing that light. It's definitely dodgy. Report this Post to the Staff
gerio2 Valued Member United Kingdom 112 Posts	Posted 06/05/2022 03:35 am http://goccf.com/t/422908#3640784 Very interesting. Thanks for this. Clearly its wrong to feed the trade, even if the coin is genuine which I now believe (see above) it can't be. Report this Post to the Staff
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