Athenian Owl Forgeries

Because of their popularity, ancient Athenian Owls are widely forged by scammers today and are perhaps the single most frequently counterfeited ancient coin. Centers of ancient coin forgery are Bulgaria and Lebanon. Owl forgeries, like ancient coin forgeries in general, range from excellently crafted, and quite dangerous, hand-cut struck copies to cheap cast tourist fakes.

Owl fakes appear frequently on eBay and less often in higher-end venues. Spotting fakes sometimes merely involves recognizing a known fake type, such as one of the pieces illustrated below. Other times it involves recognizing signs of a cast coin, indications of modern surfaces, or stylistic differences that vary too much from official issues or known ancient imitative issues. You can sometimes detect a fake using just an online photo. But often you need a coin in hand to do so reliably, allowing you to look at it from different angles and under magnification.

Buying from reputable dealers can go a long way to minimizing your risks in getting stuck with a fake. Buying directly through eBay from fellow collectors or from European middlemen/direct sellers, on the other hand, can be considerably less expensive, and risky. Knowledge can lesson the risks. One lesson from this is to avoid buying Owls and other more expensive ancient coins unless you know the seller, have a recommendation about the seller from a reliable source, or are experienced enough around ancient coins to recognize fakes and scammers.

The following is a sampling of modern Owl forgeries, most of which I've had the chance to examine in person, generally listed from more convincing to lesser quality in each category. Many of these pieces originated abroad, but forgers and scammers operate in the U.S. as well. I've obtained these pieces through donations from dealers, purchases from dealers selling them as copies, trades from fellow collectors, and donations from collectors who have been scammed and want to help prevent others from being scammed. If you have any Owl forgeries not illustrated on this page that you're able to offer, please let me know.

Forgeries of Archaic Owls

Bulgarian School pressed counterfeit (11.2g).
This is a curious copy. From its photo, it appears to be an attractive pre-Salamis archaic Owl, c. 490-482 BC, Sear 1842. In hand, it appears originally engraved rather than cast and, in the Bulgarian style, pressed rather than hand struck. It also appears to be silver. It's the correct diameter, but it's thin and light. The obvious question is, Why would the forger or forgery workshop who produced this well-made fake have skimped on something like $2 worth of silver when making it the correct weight would have made it "genuinely" deceptive? Perhaps it was a trial piece put out by one of the Bulgarian forgery workshops. If so, it only follows that full-weight forgeries will follow, or already have.

Forgeries of Classical Owls

Lebanese School pressed counterfeit (16.9g).
This is a deceptive fake that appears to have been made using a transfer die. There's space on the flan for Athena's crest but no crest visible. The forger used a typical Owl on a small flan with Athena's crest off the flan to create a transfer die, then used a larger flan to press out a copy. No authentic Owls exist with a blank space where the crest should be, though sometimes there's a slight gap between the top of the crown and the beginning of the crest. The weight of this piece is in the correct range, and it's made of silver. This fake originated in Lebanon and was acquired in trade with another collector who had bought it from a Lebanese dealer, with the dealer disclaiming knowledge of its authenticity. Lebanon and Bulgaria are centers of ancient coin counterfeiting, Lebanon more so in the past, Bulgaria more so today, though as some of the pieces on this page illustrate, fakes still emanate from Lebanon. One version of this same fake was sold on eBay for $400 by a seller in the U.S. with more than 1,500 feedbacks who created a "private" auction, which prevents others from contacting and tipping off bidders (it's generally good policy to never bid on private auctions unless you know the seller and know he has good reason for preventing people from communicating). Another of these fakes was being sold for $480 by an antiquities dealer in Australia from his own Web site. These prices are a half to a third of what authentic Owls in this condition would sell for but about 20 times what copies sold as copies typically sell for. A number of other varieties of Owl forgeries exhibit the same mistake as this piece. It could be argued that publishing this mistake will help forgers make more convincing fakes in the future. But the countervailing argument is that it also will help collectors and dealers avoid being cheated by fakes already out there. Here are other versions of this same Lebanese fake.

Lebanese School pressed counterfeit (16.4g)
This silver forgery was once part of a Japanese collection of authentic coins and was said to have originated in Iran, though the styling is very similar to the next Lebanese School forgery on this page, particularly Athena's lips, nose, and eye and the oversized theta of the legend, and it may well have been produced by the same hand. The above forgery was provided to me by one of the most respected ancient coin dealer/numismatists in the world. Most dealers won't provide collectors with forgeries to study and document. They may not want to publicize the forgery problem for fear of scaring off other collectors. Or they may not trust the collector, fearing he may turn around and try to sell the piece as authentic. This is a fairly well-made deception overall, though the styling of Athena's nose is un-Athenian, and the reverse fields are too flat. It appears to be made from originally engraved dies and then minted with a hydraulic press.

Lebanese School cast counterfeit (17.3g).
Here's another Lebanese School counterfeit, this one sold repeatedly by a scammer from Lebanon on eBay using multiple I.D.s. It's the correct weight, or just a smidgen heavy. It appears to be cast, with significant casting pits most visible at Athena's cheek and chin, though there's no edge seam characteristic of lower-quality cast fakes. This piece appears to have been cast from an originally engraved fake because the owl's head and breast feathers are more crudely done in the style of fourth century Owls. Here are other versions of this same fake, including one that has been artificially worn.

Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (15.5g).
This lightweight piece has the unusual characteristic of the center of its obverse being in a depression or gully when it typically is the high point on these coins, with this being better visible having the coin in hand. Also, its surfaces are too granular, its fields too regular, and its details too soft. The edges are filed and polished as well. Still, it's a fairly well-made and deceptive fake, judging strictly by its photo. It was donated by a dealer who had five of these in his black cabinet, all identical.

Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (16.7g).
This piece originated in Bulgaria. It appears to be cast, with casting bumps most visible on the slopes of the incuse square, and to be made of a debased silver alloy. The flan is also slightly wider than normal. It no doubt was initially made from hand-engraved dies before being cast because the styling is considerably off. One version of this fake was sold on eBay for $292, about one-fourth of what it would have sold for this this condition if authentic but about ten times more than it would have sold for as a forgery or replica. Another version, as of this writing, is being sold as an authentic coin for $1,140 at a Web store by a scammer who has thousands of forgeries of ancient coins and artifacts for sale as authentic, each offered with a "Certificate of Authenticity," reinforcing the advice that you shouldn't buy ancient coins online unless you have a recommendation of a dealer from a reliable source or you know the coin type and forgeries well enough to spot fakes from their photos. Here are two other versions -- the first being the fake from the Web store with the fake authenticity certificate -- of this same Bulgarian School fake.

Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (14.5g).
This is one of the most frequently seen Owl fakes on the market, with specimens I've seen ranging in weight from 6 to 17 grams. It has been sold multiple times by different scammers, including the Toronto Forger, an eBay scammer in Germany using multiple I.D.s, and an eBay scammer in Lebanon. This fake appears to have begun its life from an originally engraved fake and was then cast repeatedly. The styling is unrealistic, with Athena's hair above her earring dropping too far down in the style of some earlier Owls and with her face being too mannish. This fake comes in other versions with the same reverse but different obverses. The reverse is documented in the 2003 book by Ilya Prokopov, et al., Modern Counterfeits and Replicas of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins from Bulgaria, as No. 93. Versions of the same fake with still other obverses are pictured below. With fakes having the above obverse, sometimes the crest on Athena's helmet is off the flan, as with the piece pictured above, and sometimes it's on the flan, as with the fakes pictured here with a full crest.

Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (17.0g).
This fake has the same reverse as the previous fake and a different obverse. The styling is off on this one as well, particularly the crest of Athena's helmet. Here's another specimen of the same type, this one weighing 16.4g, offered as an authentic coin on eBay by a seller from the United Arab Emirates with a Buy It Now price of $1,750, and artificially corroded.

Turkish tourist copy cast counterfeit (11.0g).
I'm calling this a Turkish counterfeit because it entered the market in Turkey, but the reverse is the same as that on the previous two fakes, and it likely originated in Bulgaria as well. This is a tourist fake, made so poorly that it could fool only a tourist. In fact, this particular specimen did just that. It was purchased by a tourist in a market in Kusadasi, Turkey, near the ancient ruins of Ephesos. It was offered to him as an authentic ancient coin that "had been found by a farmer in his fields." The tourist, in returning home, put it up on eBay as an authentic coin before taking the auction down. It's made of some non-silver, pot metal alloy and is very darkly toned. This fake like some others on this page has made the rounds, with different versions cast from the same mold having been sold by different people, including the Toronto Forger as well as a forger from Germany who also has used multiple I.D.s on eBay. It apparently was originally engraved before being cast many times. The styling is unrealistic, and the surfaces have casting pits best visible under magnification. Different versions exist of this fake as well. Here are others, with the first one just being toned differently and with the second being from the scammer in Germany and purportedly weighing 17.1g with a fake test cut and hole.

Bulgarian School Forgery Early Classical Owl tetradrachm (11.8g).
This is a small, underweight, and curious forgery, combining design elements of Owls from different eras. The hair on Athena's forehead is like that of Star Group IV Owls of 460-455 BC. Athena's mouth and the tail feathers of the owl is that of mass Owls of 449-413 BC. The reverse is lacking a crescent moon, as on archaic Owls before 480 BC. The piece has the look and feel of lead-based pewter and appears to be a high-quality cast with faint remnants of a seam in the middle of the edge. The obverse is documented in Ilya Prokopov's 2003 book Modern Counterfeits and Replicas of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins from Bulgaria as No. 93.

Lipanoff cast counterfeit Early Classical Owl tetradrachm (15.1g).
This is a counterfeit from, or based on, the Lipanoff Studio in Bulgaria, which likely consists of former apprendices of the Bulgarian replica maker Slavey Petrov. The styling of this piece is very similar to the Slavey replica of the Classical Owl illustrated on the Owl Replicas page of this site, with the hair above Athena's earring the most noticeable difference. Unlike Slavey's own work, which is minted with a hydraulic press, the above piece is cast, having a faint edge seam. It's documented in Ilya Prokopov's 2004 book Contemporary Coin Engravers and Coin Masters from Bulgaria as No. 1. Prokopov indicates that the Lipanoff Studio strikes most of their copies, so the above piece may be a cast copy of a Lipanoff copy, or it may be a Lipanoff cast. More on the Lipanoff Studio.

Cast counterfeit tetradrachm with filled-in test cut (15.1g).
This is a run-of-the-mill cast counterfeit, with casting pits and remnants of an edge seam, with one exception. The copyist used a test-cut Classical Owl as the seed coin, then after creating the cast filled in the test cut. The job is obvious and amateurish. The marking on the reverse right field is unclear. The piece appears to be made of silver.

Cast counterfeit Egyptian Owl (15.9g).
This is a cast copy of an Egyptian Owl imitative, with subtle casting pits most visible under magnification, mushy details, and the remnants of a casting seam.

Toronto Forger cast counterfeit (12.8g).
This is another of the hundreds of cast fakes sold as authentic coins on eBay to thousands of people over a period of about four years by a scammer operating out of Toronto, Canada. The forger is sometimes called the Toronto Group, but there's no indication that there was anyone behind this other than a single individual making poor- and medium-quality cast copies in his basement. The above piece has the characteristic soft details of lower-quality cast copies. This forger like many forgers casts his fakes mostly from other forgeries or from replicas, all of which are less expensive to obtain than authentic ancient coins. Higher-quality, more dangerous forgeries are cast from authentic coins using pressure casting, struck or pressed from cast dies made from authentic coins, or originally engraved and hand struck like authentic ancient coins. This fake was donated to me by a public-spirited collector who was cheated out of $180 by the Toronto Forger when he was using the alias Online Liquidators and who wanted to contribute to the cause of counterfeit education.

Cast counterfeit (15.7g).
This piece is somewhat similar in styling to the above Toronto fake, with the most noticeable difference being Athena's hair above her earring. Also, the crest is off the flan on this piece.

Cast counterfeit (8.2g).
This cast piece has nice enough surfaces and detail, but the edges have been filed, and the flan is very thin, accounting for its very low weight. It's not made of silver but some kind of artificially toned white metal alloy.

Counterfeit Wilbert replica (weight unknown).
This is a Wilbert replica, illustrated on the Owl Replicas page of this site, but it has been treated to create simulated flan cracks in an effort to make it appear more authentic. It was offered for sale as an authentic coin on eBay.

Toronto Forger cast counterfeit of Antiquanova replica of Early Classical Owl tetradrachm (weight unknown).
This is yet another of the low-quality cast fakes sold as authentic coins on eBay to thousands of people over a period of about four years by the Toronto Forger. This is a copy of an Antiquanova replica, illustrated on the Owl Replicas page of this site. The casting pits all over the surfaces of this piece show it for what it is. The S countermark of the Antiquanova replica was filled in when the mold was made. Here's another deception made from the same Antiquanova replica in which a scammer has crudely gouged out, on the reverse between the owl and the legend, the S countermark.

Cast counterfeit (13.2g).
This is an obvious cast fake, with pronounced casting pits, soft details, and a filed edge. Its reddish hue makes it appear to be made of bronze, but it has more of the feel of artificially toned pot metal, an alloy consisting of tin, lead, and whatever else might be around (including old pots).

Forgeries of New Style Owls

Pressed counterfeit (17.4g).
This is a skillfully done though far from perfect copy. It's slightly heavy and appears to be made of a lead alloy, from its feel and its ring. The surfaces are also a tad flat. I obtained it from an ancient coin and antiquities dealer who has a large black cabinet of forgeries. Another version of this fake was published in Bulletin on Counterfeits Vol. 2 No. 2 (1977) page 44, with that specimen weighing 17.0g.

Turkish cast counterfeit (10.0g).
This is a silver copy with the characteristic appearance of a low-quality cast. The casting pits are obvious, the details in particular on the reverse are mushy, the edges have been filed, and the piece is severely underweight. This piece is said to have originated in Turkey.

Greek cast counterfeit (12.1g).
This is another silver cast copy, though with this one the casting pits are more obvious on the obverse than the reverse. Said to have originated in Greece.

Bronze cast counterfeit (10.5g).
This tourist fake has been cast in bronze and has very indistinct details and filed edges. A better, earlier version of this fake was published in the Bulletin on Counterfeits Vol. 7 No. 1/2 (1982) page 1, with that specimen weighing 15.7g. The above piece is likely a cast of a cast.

Here's a page of mine on counterfeit coin detection. Here's a catalog of other Toronto forgeries.

Athenian Owls

Owl Fourrees

Owl Imitations

Owl Forgeries

Owl Replicas

Owl Medals

Owl Coins

Owl Paper

Owl Jewelry

Owl Figurines

Owl References

Note: All of the coins illustrated on these pages that are in my possession are stored off site.

			Because of their popularity, ancient Athenian Owls are widely forged by scammers today and are perhaps the single most frequently counterfeited ancient coin. Centers of ancient coin forgery are Bulgaria and Lebanon. Owl forgeries, like ancient coin forgeries in general, range from excellently crafted, and quite dangerous, hand-cut struck copies to cheap cast tourist fakes. Owl fakes appear frequently on eBay and less often in higher-end venues. Spotting fakes sometimes merely involves recognizing a known fake type, such as one of the pieces illustrated below. Other times it involves recognizing signs of a cast coin, indications of modern surfaces, or stylistic differences that vary too much from official issues or known ancient imitative issues. You can sometimes detect a fake using just an online photo. But often you need a coin in hand to do so reliably, allowing you to look at it from different angles and under magnification. Buying from reputable dealers can go a long way to minimizing your risks in getting stuck with a fake. Buying directly through eBay from fellow collectors or from European middlemen/direct sellers, on the other hand, can be considerably less expensive, and risky. Knowledge can lesson the risks. One lesson from this is to avoid buying Owls and other more expensive ancient coins unless you know the seller, have a recommendation about the seller from a reliable source, or are experienced enough around ancient coins to recognize fakes and scammers. The following is a sampling of modern Owl forgeries, most of which I've had the chance to examine in person, generally listed from more convincing to lesser quality in each category. Many of these pieces originated abroad, but forgers and scammers operate in the U.S. as well. I've obtained these pieces through donations from dealers, purchases from dealers selling them as copies, trades from fellow collectors, and donations from collectors who have been scammed and want to help prevent others from being scammed. If you have any Owl forgeries not illustrated on this page that you're able to offer, please let me know.

			Forgeries of Archaic Owls

			Bulgarian School pressed counterfeit (11.2g). This is a curious copy. From its photo, it appears to be an attractive pre-Salamis archaic Owl, c. 490-482 BC, Sear 1842. In hand, it appears originally engraved rather than cast and, in the Bulgarian style, pressed rather than hand struck. It also appears to be silver. It's the correct diameter, but it's thin and light. The obvious question is, Why would the forger or forgery workshop who produced this well-made fake have skimped on something like $2 worth of silver when making it the correct weight would have made it "genuinely" deceptive? Perhaps it was a trial piece put out by one of the Bulgarian forgery workshops. If so, it only follows that full-weight forgeries will follow, or already have.

			Forgeries of Classical Owls

			Lebanese School pressed counterfeit (16.9g). This is a deceptive fake that appears to have been made using a transfer die. There's space on the flan for Athena's crest but no crest visible. The forger used a typical Owl on a small flan with Athena's crest off the flan to create a transfer die, then used a larger flan to press out a copy. No authentic Owls exist with a blank space where the crest should be, though sometimes there's a slight gap between the top of the crown and the beginning of the crest. The weight of this piece is in the correct range, and it's made of silver. This fake originated in Lebanon and was acquired in trade with another collector who had bought it from a Lebanese dealer, with the dealer disclaiming knowledge of its authenticity. Lebanon and Bulgaria are centers of ancient coin counterfeiting, Lebanon more so in the past, Bulgaria more so today, though as some of the pieces on this page illustrate, fakes still emanate from Lebanon. One version of this same fake was sold on eBay for $400 by a seller in the U.S. with more than 1,500 feedbacks who created a "private" auction, which prevents others from contacting and tipping off bidders (it's generally good policy to never bid on private auctions unless you know the seller and know he has good reason for preventing people from communicating). Another of these fakes was being sold for $480 by an antiquities dealer in Australia from his own Web site. These prices are a half to a third of what authentic Owls in this condition would sell for but about 20 times what copies sold as copies typically sell for. A number of other varieties of Owl forgeries exhibit the same mistake as this piece. It could be argued that publishing this mistake will help forgers make more convincing fakes in the future. But the countervailing argument is that it also will help collectors and dealers avoid being cheated by fakes already out there. Here are other versions of this same Lebanese fake.


			Lebanese School pressed counterfeit (16.4g) This silver forgery was once part of a Japanese collection of authentic coins and was said to have originated in Iran, though the styling is very similar to the next Lebanese School forgery on this page, particularly Athena's lips, nose, and eye and the oversized theta of the legend, and it may well have been produced by the same hand. The above forgery was provided to me by one of the most respected ancient coin dealer/numismatists in the world. Most dealers won't provide collectors with forgeries to study and document. They may not want to publicize the forgery problem for fear of scaring off other collectors. Or they may not trust the collector, fearing he may turn around and try to sell the piece as authentic. This is a fairly well-made deception overall, though the styling of Athena's nose is un-Athenian, and the reverse fields are too flat. It appears to be made from originally engraved dies and then minted with a hydraulic press.


			Lebanese School cast counterfeit (17.3g). Here's another Lebanese School counterfeit, this one sold repeatedly by a scammer from Lebanon on eBay using multiple I.D.s. It's the correct weight, or just a smidgen heavy. It appears to be cast, with significant casting pits most visible at Athena's cheek and chin, though there's no edge seam characteristic of lower-quality cast fakes. This piece appears to have been cast from an originally engraved fake because the owl's head and breast feathers are more crudely done in the style of fourth century Owls. Here are other versions of this same fake, including one that has been artificially worn.


			Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (15.5g). This lightweight piece has the unusual characteristic of the center of its obverse being in a depression or gully when it typically is the high point on these coins, with this being better visible having the coin in hand. Also, its surfaces are too granular, its fields too regular, and its details too soft. The edges are filed and polished as well. Still, it's a fairly well-made and deceptive fake, judging strictly by its photo. It was donated by a dealer who had five of these in his black cabinet, all identical.


			Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (16.7g). This piece originated in Bulgaria. It appears to be cast, with casting bumps most visible on the slopes of the incuse square, and to be made of a debased silver alloy. The flan is also slightly wider than normal. It no doubt was initially made from hand-engraved dies before being cast because the styling is considerably off. One version of this fake was sold on eBay for $292, about one-fourth of what it would have sold for this this condition if authentic but about ten times more than it would have sold for as a forgery or replica. Another version, as of this writing, is being sold as an authentic coin for $1,140 at a Web store by a scammer who has thousands of forgeries of ancient coins and artifacts for sale as authentic, each offered with a "Certificate of Authenticity," reinforcing the advice that you shouldn't buy ancient coins online unless you have a recommendation of a dealer from a reliable source or you know the coin type and forgeries well enough to spot fakes from their photos. Here are two other versions -- the first being the fake from the Web store with the fake authenticity certificate -- of this same Bulgarian School fake.


			Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (14.5g). This is one of the most frequently seen Owl fakes on the market, with specimens I've seen ranging in weight from 6 to 17 grams. It has been sold multiple times by different scammers, including the Toronto Forger, an eBay scammer in Germany using multiple I.D.s, and an eBay scammer in Lebanon. This fake appears to have begun its life from an originally engraved fake and was then cast repeatedly. The styling is unrealistic, with Athena's hair above her earring dropping too far down in the style of some earlier Owls and with her face being too mannish. This fake comes in other versions with the same reverse but different obverses. The reverse is documented in the 2003 book by Ilya Prokopov, et al., Modern Counterfeits and Replicas of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins from Bulgaria, as No. 93. Versions of the same fake with still other obverses are pictured below. With fakes having the above obverse, sometimes the crest on Athena's helmet is off the flan, as with the piece pictured above, and sometimes it's on the flan, as with the fakes pictured here with a full crest.


			Bulgarian School cast counterfeit (17.0g). This fake has the same reverse as the previous fake and a different obverse. The styling is off on this one as well, particularly the crest of Athena's helmet. Here's another specimen of the same type, this one weighing 16.4g, offered as an authentic coin on eBay by a seller from the United Arab Emirates with a Buy It Now price of $1,750, and artificially corroded.


			Turkish tourist copy cast counterfeit (11.0g). I'm calling this a Turkish counterfeit because it entered the market in Turkey, but the reverse is the same as that on the previous two fakes, and it likely originated in Bulgaria as well. This is a tourist fake, made so poorly that it could fool only a tourist. In fact, this particular specimen did just that. It was purchased by a tourist in a market in Kusadasi, Turkey, near the ancient ruins of Ephesos. It was offered to him as an authentic ancient coin that "had been found by a farmer in his fields." The tourist, in returning home, put it up on eBay as an authentic coin before taking the auction down. It's made of some non-silver, pot metal alloy and is very darkly toned. This fake like some others on this page has made the rounds, with different versions cast from the same mold having been sold by different people, including the Toronto Forger as well as a forger from Germany who also has used multiple I.D.s on eBay. It apparently was originally engraved before being cast many times. The styling is unrealistic, and the surfaces have casting pits best visible under magnification. Different versions exist of this fake as well. Here are others, with the first one just being toned differently and with the second being from the scammer in Germany and purportedly weighing 17.1g with a fake test cut and hole.


			Bulgarian School Forgery Early Classical Owl tetradrachm (11.8g). This is a small, underweight, and curious forgery, combining design elements of Owls from different eras. The hair on Athena's forehead is like that of Star Group IV Owls of 460-455 BC. Athena's mouth and the tail feathers of the owl is that of mass Owls of 449-413 BC. The reverse is lacking a crescent moon, as on archaic Owls before 480 BC. The piece has the look and feel of lead-based pewter and appears to be a high-quality cast with faint remnants of a seam in the middle of the edge. The obverse is documented in Ilya Prokopov's 2003 book Modern Counterfeits and Replicas of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins from Bulgaria as No. 93.


			Lipanoff cast counterfeit Early Classical Owl tetradrachm (15.1g). This is a counterfeit from, or based on, the Lipanoff Studio in Bulgaria, which likely consists of former apprendices of the Bulgarian replica maker Slavey Petrov. The styling of this piece is very similar to the Slavey replica of the Classical Owl illustrated on the Owl Replicas page of this site, with the hair above Athena's earring the most noticeable difference. Unlike Slavey's own work, which is minted with a hydraulic press, the above piece is cast, having a faint edge seam. It's documented in Ilya Prokopov's 2004 book Contemporary Coin Engravers and Coin Masters from Bulgaria as No. 1. Prokopov indicates that the Lipanoff Studio strikes most of their copies, so the above piece may be a cast copy of a Lipanoff copy, or it may be a Lipanoff cast. More on the Lipanoff Studio.


			Cast counterfeit tetradrachm with filled-in test cut (15.1g). This is a run-of-the-mill cast counterfeit, with casting pits and remnants of an edge seam, with one exception. The copyist used a test-cut Classical Owl as the seed coin, then after creating the cast filled in the test cut. The job is obvious and amateurish. The marking on the reverse right field is unclear. The piece appears to be made of silver.


			Cast counterfeit Egyptian Owl (15.9g). This is a cast copy of an Egyptian Owl imitative, with subtle casting pits most visible under magnification, mushy details, and the remnants of a casting seam.


			Toronto Forger cast counterfeit (12.8g). This is another of the hundreds of cast fakes sold as authentic coins on eBay to thousands of people over a period of about four years by a scammer operating out of Toronto, Canada. The forger is sometimes called the Toronto Group, but there's no indication that there was anyone behind this other than a single individual making poor- and medium-quality cast copies in his basement. The above piece has the characteristic soft details of lower-quality cast copies. This forger like many forgers casts his fakes mostly from other forgeries or from replicas, all of which are less expensive to obtain than authentic ancient coins. Higher-quality, more dangerous forgeries are cast from authentic coins using pressure casting, struck or pressed from cast dies made from authentic coins, or originally engraved and hand struck like authentic ancient coins. This fake was donated to me by a public-spirited collector who was cheated out of $180 by the Toronto Forger when he was using the alias Online Liquidators and who wanted to contribute to the cause of counterfeit education.


			Cast counterfeit (15.7g). This piece is somewhat similar in styling to the above Toronto fake, with the most noticeable difference being Athena's hair above her earring. Also, the crest is off the flan on this piece.


			Cast counterfeit (8.2g). This cast piece has nice enough surfaces and detail, but the edges have been filed, and the flan is very thin, accounting for its very low weight. It's not made of silver but some kind of artificially toned white metal alloy.


			Counterfeit Wilbert replica (weight unknown). This is a Wilbert replica, illustrated on the Owl Replicas page of this site, but it has been treated to create simulated flan cracks in an effort to make it appear more authentic. It was offered for sale as an authentic coin on eBay.


			Toronto Forger cast counterfeit of Antiquanova replica of Early Classical Owl tetradrachm (weight unknown). This is yet another of the low-quality cast fakes sold as authentic coins on eBay to thousands of people over a period of about four years by the Toronto Forger. This is a copy of an Antiquanova replica, illustrated on the Owl Replicas page of this site. The casting pits all over the surfaces of this piece show it for what it is. The S countermark of the Antiquanova replica was filled in when the mold was made. Here's another deception made from the same Antiquanova replica in which a scammer has crudely gouged out, on the reverse between the owl and the legend, the S countermark.


			Cast counterfeit (13.2g). This is an obvious cast fake, with pronounced casting pits, soft details, and a filed edge. Its reddish hue makes it appear to be made of bronze, but it has more of the feel of artificially toned pot metal, an alloy consisting of tin, lead, and whatever else might be around (including old pots).

			Forgeries of New Style Owls

			Pressed counterfeit (17.4g). This is a skillfully done though far from perfect copy. It's slightly heavy and appears to be made of a lead alloy, from its feel and its ring. The surfaces are also a tad flat. I obtained it from an ancient coin and antiquities dealer who has a large black cabinet of forgeries. Another version of this fake was published in Bulletin on Counterfeits Vol. 2 No. 2 (1977) page 44, with that specimen weighing 17.0g.


			Turkish cast counterfeit (10.0g). This is a silver copy with the characteristic appearance of a low-quality cast. The casting pits are obvious, the details in particular on the reverse are mushy, the edges have been filed, and the piece is severely underweight. This piece is said to have originated in Turkey.


			Greek cast counterfeit (12.1g). This is another silver cast copy, though with this one the casting pits are more obvious on the obverse than the reverse. Said to have originated in Greece.


			Bronze cast counterfeit (10.5g). This tourist fake has been cast in bronze and has very indistinct details and filed edges. A better, earlier version of this fake was published in the Bulletin on Counterfeits Vol. 7 No. 1/2 (1982) page 1, with that specimen weighing 15.7g. The above piece is likely a cast of a cast.



			Here's a page of mine on counterfeit coin detection. Here's a catalog of other Toronto forgeries.

Modern Owl Forgeries