Glebe

Here's another example in gold from the Type A obverse die showing the upright reverse more clearly. (From G.& M, 4.08 gm). Ross G.

People need to be aware that Bendall’s analysis of the imitative John III hyperpyra is rather over-simplified. Shown below is Bendall’s Type A obverse coin (from Hervera, weight 2.73 gm), together with an example in gold struck from the same die (from CNG, weight 3.80 gm). Now the interesting thing about these two coins is that on the brassy type the reverse is inverted, as is standard on Byzantine trachea and hyperpyra, but on the gold coin the reverse is upright. This gold type is in fact a member of a group of c. 20 or so different types of S.2073 style hyperpyra with upright reverses which appeared on the market some years before Bendall first encountered the (mostly) brassy imitative types in the so-called Kosovo hoard. Another example is the Heritage coin I showed in an earlier post. As well as these gold types there are also a considerable number of bronze/billon imitative types with upright reverses which also appeared on the market some time, if I remember rightly, before the brassy types first appeared, and I show a couple of these below as well. The problem therefore is put together a convincing narrative that links all these various imitative types together. Ross G.

And another similar example from CNG, weight 3.86g, double struck. Ross G.

Here are two examples of what seem to be genuine gold versions of the coin in question here, i.e, DOC 12, with the "grenade" siglum. The weights are 4.51 and 4.1 gm. The first coin is from Katz Coins and the second from Numismatic Naumann in 1918. Ross G. Although looking at it again I'm not so sure about the Naumann coin.

I have (in my files) quite a few more examples of s.2073 imitatives from the same obverse die as the OPC, including some in brass (or brass coating), others in bronze and one apparently in gold. The gold type is interesting as it dates back to 2003, well before Bendall's "Kosovo hoard". Ross G. But how do I add images from my files? (OK - sorted)

If these Ae versions of Sear 2073 are genuine then we should find them in established museum collections. So far I haven't seen any. Ross G.

There were a number of late Byzantine silver basilika on the market a few years ago, many of which can be found on the Forum Ancient Coins site here: Fake Byzantine Coins - Dr. Ilya Prokopov's Fake Ancient Coin Reports (forumancientcoins.com) Note that these were generally cast copies of known or unknown genuine coins.

I had a quick look at your catalog of Nicaean and Palaeologan fakes. Most of them look OK to me - if you are going to condemn coins you will need to give reasons - e.g, if two coins from the same dies have identical flans it's reasonable conclude that at least one of them is a cast copy of some host. And so on, but we have to see the evidence. Regarding Palaeologan Fake 15, it is generally thought that this type is simply a provincial version of Sear 2472 rather than a modern fake. For another example from the same dies see below. Also below are two more examples of the type from a different pair of dies. Incidentally Palaeologan Fake 12a seems to be a fourree, so I wouldn't call it a (modern) fake. Ross G.