![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| Becker forgery lead restrike of Alexander III drachm, 3.6g, Hill 48, M.J. Price F101. Copy of coin from Kition/Citium c. 325-320 BC Price 3109. | |||||||||
Carl Wilhelm Becker, a German who worked in the early 19th century, is history's most notorious ancient coin counterfeiter,
a collector who started making fakes after having gotten stuck with one himself, eventually sticking the seller
who stuck him. Becker also fooled many of the world's most prominent museums. Becker hand engraved and hand struck
his pieces, as was the practice in ancient times. He then artificially aged them by placing them in a box filled
with metal filings and attaching the box to the axle of his carriage. |
|||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| "Bulgarian School" forgery of Alexander III drachm, 4.2g. Correct weight, but fantasy, with no Alexander drachms in Price having Pegasos in reverse left field. | |||||||||
| I'm including two drachm copies on this page that are likely Lipanoff Studio pieces. This and the next specimen are examples of one die, the two pieces after that are examples of another die. The first three pieces were sold as unmarked replicas on eBay; the fourth is marked. These are high quality pressed copies with excellent craftsmanship, and I'm including them in this page on forgeries because of the near certainty that they will be sold somewhere as authentic ancient coins. The above specimen is the correct weight. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| "Bulgarian School" forgery of Alexander III drachm, 4.6g. Same dies as previous piece but aged and toned. I've seen another one of these with a small "COPY" countermark on the edge. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| "Bulgarian School" forgery of Alexander III drachm, 3.9g. This is the second type of Lipanoff copy of an Alexander drachm on this page. Though the obverse and reverse dies are different, it's obvious that the same hand created them. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| "Bulgarian School" replica of Alexander III drachm, 4.0g. Same dies as previous piece but with small "COPY" countermark on edge. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| "Lebanese School" forgery of Alexander III drachm, 3.2g, Price F-98. Said to be from the Baalbek region of Lebanon near the Syrian border. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| "Lebanese School" forgery of Alexander III drachm, 3.2g, Price F-103. Same as previous piece but with different mint mark. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| Cast forgery of Alexander III drachm, 2.8g. Very lighweight. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| "Bulgarian School" cast forgery of Alexander III drachm, 4.1g. Casting pits and indistinct details. It also has a small lamination defect at the center of the reverse. Said to have originated in Bulgaria. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| Bulgarian School forgery of Thracian imitative Alexander III drachm, 3.3g. | |||||||||
This is one of many hundreds of Bulgarian forgeries sold on eBay by a seller from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She claims she's not a numismatist and cannot guarantee the authenticity of what she sells. She sells only Bulgarian forgeries. The coins usually sell for slightly more than what replicas typically sell for but far below authentic coins, with many bidders no doubt buying them as examples of Bularian forgery. Sometimes though the hammer price approaches the value of an authentic coin when two or more bidders are fooled. As with the above piece, all of her copies are originally engraved pressed coins with characteristically flamboyant Bulgarian styling and of good silver when they copy silver coins. |
|||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| Cast forgery of Alexander III hemidrachm, 1.6g, compared with about 2.1g for an authentic hemidrachm. | |||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||
| Cast forgery of Alexander III hemidrachm, 2.0g. This cast features a reverse common on Alexander's bronzes and on some of his smaller fractions, with soldier's weapons (bow and club) and as a mint mark a fulmen (thunderbolt) at the top. The nature of the piece also isn't apparent unless looked at under magnification. I bought it as an authentic coin at a local coin show from an ancient coin dealer from Lebanon, who at the next show accepted the return of the piece. | |||||||||
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.