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Roman Republican Cast Forgeries / Fakes
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first example of a counterfeit is easy to detect.
The images on the coin are fuzzy, details especially
on the reverse are missing. But the most important evidences for a forgery
are the tiny cast bubbles all over the surface.
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Viewing
the edge, you can see a groove. This is a typical evidence for a casted
coin This groove
is developed by the 2 moulds attached together, which are not identical
in size or centered very well. Furthermore you can see a cast bubble in
the groove. |
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The
next example is a bit more tricky.
On the coin there are almost no cast bubbles.
You can see one on the obverse side; it is the dark spot right of the A.
But again, important details, visible even on a worn coin, are missing.
e.g. details
on the figures on the reverse.
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The
typical groove is not as clearly visible as in example #1, but it is there.
The groove is not as deep nor wide, but you can see it as the thin black
line.
The forgers tried to hide this groove by working on the coin with a file.
Furthermore the coin was polished to remove the traces of casting. Look
at the softness of the relief. |
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This leads
us to another evidence of forgeries:
Coins, which circulated a long time, are worn. The higher
parts of the coin are flattened. If this is the case, the edge of the
coin is worn too. More than other parts of the coin, so the edge is not
angular like it would look like if you work on it with a file, the edge
is symmetrical and round.
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Signs of a cast forgery:
- cast bubbles
- cast groove
on the edge
- important
image-details missing (which are there even on worn coins)
- the forgery
gets more plastic (lines, letters etc. are thicker ... -> loss of sharpness)
- all coins
with file-marks on the edge are suspect
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COUNTERMARKS
