Ancient Coins: How to Avoid Fakes

Ancient Coin collecting is a wonderful hobby, but even the best communities have its bad apples, some forgeries are out there, but they dont need to scare you away from collecting.

Today, I am going over a series of steps you could take to greatly diminish the probability of buying fake coins.

If you like this video, please leave a like and consider subscribing for more ancient coinage content! :)

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[ClassicalNumismatics]

Would you like to support the channel and my work?
Consider buying some channel Merch! You get a cool T-Shirt or Mug and you help me make more Ancient Numismatic content. Thank you! 😃

[ottilieblack]

"Know the coin or know the seller." That lesson was drilled into me when I started this hobby 8 years ago by experienced collectors, and it's a lesson that I always pass on to new collectors because there is a tremendous amount of wisdom in that simple sentence.
Your video supports that sentence, and lays out in detail the importance of good scholarship and trust in this hobby. Thanks for posting this on Reddit where I found it.

[dschehutinefer]

I feel somewhat called out by this video showing up in my feed a week after I got my very first ancient coin after a colleague told me of her collection and inspired me to get my hands on an ancient coin myself. I should note that I don't see myself as a collector, just an enthusiastic history teacher who is somewhat obsessed with Roman history and up until now didn't even know you actually can own genuine historical artifacts just like that.

The thing is, after she encouraged me, I still was extremely anxious about fakes, especially with the price tag attached to some coins, so... I must admit this final hesitation was only dropped when I learned about premium uncleaned coins and I ended up buying one from a trader I learned through people on Youtube mentioning them as one they bought from, just to see whether I get ripped off or whether customs knock me over the head for importing a historical artifact. Fortunately nothing of the sort happened and for the last week I have been super carefully tending to a Valentian I. AE3 Follis that I'm fairly sure is genuine because, well, I think nobody would bother to fake a heavily encrusted, somewhat damaged coin with a fairly beautiful patina and then sell it for just 3, 50 €. Right? Right?! Right?!?

[adammaisano]

A good tip I have found for beginners who are looking to buy on eBay is the following:

If the coin listed who’s provenance is listed as coming from “an old estate” or something like a “collection from the 1970s” with no other details, it’s a fake. Eastern European sellers do this all of the time. And at least when it comes to hammered coins, these people will list 5-10 really rare coins like this at a time. It is extremely rare to have so many VF coins listed at $0 beginning bid prices from an estate that are so rare. They always sucker people in by allowing the coin to be returned in 30 days, no questions asked. This is a simple sales gimmick as the people who end up buying these coins generally don’t know they are buying fakes and don’t know the difference to return the coin anyway. I hope this helps

[philipwagner]

Maybe not all, but a lot of fakes on ebay are offered as genuine by sellers from "Bugaria" and "Europe". Many false Spanish and Spanish Colonial 8 R's replicas are offered by sellers in "Poland".

[adammaisano]

You are a brilliant creator and I really enjoy all of your content! As a fairly experienced numistatist, I would say the most important thing a beginner can do is to get themselves exposed to as much material as possible in the area of numismatics they wish to collect. It took me hours, year’s, of looking at coins to develop the eye to spot fakes

[Numischannel]

Great video Leo. In many investment areas, the potential gains may tempt some people to asume wild risks. If you buy a CCC-rated bond, probably you will get an amazing profit but you surely risk to loose your money. This is also the case with ancient coins. Buying from a reputable dealer will be always more expensive, but I'm sure that you don't need to buy from doubtful people to make a good investment in ancients.

[blueguy]

Don't be afraid to turn your nose up at a coin if anything is off. Very few pieces are so rare that you won't see another of that type at auction sooner or later.

[samuelberg]

Another great video. Wish this was out there when I started collecting a few years ago!

[rolson]

One method that helps to confirm that a coin is probably real is to research old auction records. Sometimes you can find the exact coin having been sold in the past. Other times you can find a die "twin" to your coin. Sometimes you only get a reverse or an obverse match so you have to look carefully. This takes sometime but is also a great learning experience and to me part of the joy of collecting.

[obscurehistory]

I’ve literally been obsessed with collecting coins since I started about a month ago. I now have several including most of the 5 good emperors, a Septimius Severus with the Parthicus Maximus title, most of the Flavian dynasty (missing Domitian) and Nero. All of which are nice silver Denarii! Your videos have helped me a lot in building my numismatics knowledge.

[BopWalk]

An important well deserved video for the beginner coin collecting community. Very nice work man!

[Melwach]

Just wanted to say thanks for your videos, really helpful when starting out. And certainly among the very(!) few high quality youtube channels about this topic. Cheers!

[woody]

Thank you for a good video, as I have just started collection Roman coins, of the 5 good Emperors, Constantine gate type coins and those minted at Antioch. So this video as been most useful

[woody]

As I have only just started out collecting Roman Coins, buying a fake is one of my biggest worries, so this video is usefull

[maxiewawa]

It's funny that in the 21st Century numismatic association is enforcing a law that was originally proclaimed by a 2nd century Roman emperor (that only the emperor Hadrian can put Hadrian's face on coins).

[jordanjames]

This was an excellent video. I would love to learn more on coin collecting. I bought two coins on vacation at a history museum and it sparked my interest. I definitely need to learn more about collecting before I buy anymore though. I will definitely be watching all of your videos and many more. Would love to find out more information on the coins I bought. I can’t seem to find anything on them though. Thank you for your amazing content.

[markp]

Always look at the other items in the seller's store... if many of the coins look very alike that is a big red flag!

[homerj]

I got hit by two fakes when I started out. Although these purchases occurred before the internet got big. I got no info on the reputation of the seller or other people's knowledge on determining fakes. How did I found out mines were fakes years later. Some collectors posted the pictures of their fakes and mines were exactly the same as the other photos. They were all made with a mold. That business finally closed a couple of years back.

[thatoneguy]

I think a few more comparisons between the legitimate and fake versions of certain coins would be quite helpful, especially pointing out common fake characteristics will be interesting for people trying to avoid fakes.