| Fantasies are products of the imagination. They're coin-like devices that harken back to ancient coins, using themes from them, but they look different from any ancient coin ever minted. It's not always clear whether any given fantasy came about because the minter was exploring his creativity or because he was ignorant about how ancient coins are supposed to look. | |||||||||
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| Alexander the Great base-metal stater fantasy, 29mm, weight unknown. | |||||||||
| This fantasy combines the obverse of an Alexander the Great gold stater (or distater) with a reverse that's more
reminiscent of an angel on a Byzantine coin than Nike on Alexander's gold coins. The flan is significantly overlarge. This fantasy appears periodically on eBay. In one auction, the seller used the title "Rare Original Greek Silver Athena Before Owl 1400's?" along with this description: "Rare original Greek silver Athena before Owl date 1415 hail to the equal power. Any additional information would be helpful. Been in family over four generations." He first listed it with a starting price of $200,000, then with a starting price of $100,000. Strangely, nobody bought it. |
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| Alexander the Great base-metal tetradrachm fantasy, 30mm, 26.4g. | |||||||||
| This fantasy pairs a traditional Alexander tetradrachm obverse with a reverse combining an eagle appearing on Ptolemaic bronzes and a Herakles club appearing on Alexander's bronze coins. The inscription ends in a sigma instead of an upsilon (Y). The piece is significantly overweight and has the feel in hand of a lead alloy. The photo of this fantasy is coutesy of Eduardo Dargent, who before trading this piece to me said he obtained it in Madrid in the 1970s. | |||||||||
Other glomworthy coins:
Coin sites:
Coin Collecting: Consumer Protection
Guide
Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship
Bogos: Counterfeit Coins
Pre-coins
© 2013 Reid Goldsborough
Note: Any of the items illustrated on these pages that are in my possession are stored off site.