ROMA XXVlll

[Rand]

@John Conduitt. I cannot say whether Anastasius is more or less popular among forgers than other rulers of the period. My speculations about possible popularity are:

• Anastasian gold is generally popular as inexpensive 'ancient gold' from the first Byzantium emperor. The designs are not sophisticated.
• There are many variations of genuine coins, with solidi widely copied around Europe by emerging 'Barbaric' states - some deviations from originals are easy to overlook.
• These coins are relatively inexpensive with little financial loss over the bullion value to make hassle arguing with dealers and for dealers to be too much of a concern. As I mentioned on another thread, a more expensive suspected Anastasius fake appeared a few years ago (I am aware of 14 copies with their sale prices declining as they kept appearing). I no longer see them in trade. Those coins have never been officially listed as 'fake' on open registries.
• The sale price must still be sufficient to justify their production.
• Most common fakes were produced in quantities from the 60th and were common in auction catalogues of the 60th-70th. I do not know if they are still produced or recycled.
• There are many Anastasian gold coins! For 2020, I have 504 new entries (352 solidi, 14 semisses, and 138 tremisses), but a few are from museums. So, c. 400 Anastasian gold coins are sold yearly (the number seems to keep increasing). Twenty fake coins make 5%. I have records of fake 74 solidi and 53 tremisses, with many sold several times. I have records of perhaps  20+ further 'unsorted' fake coins. This is less than 5% of all Anastasian gold coins in private hands. However, some tend to be seen on offer from year to year, possibly recognised as such and harder to sell.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Rand

[Broucheion]

Hi @Rand,

Have you published this analysis. It sounds like you have put a lot of effort into it.

- Broucheion 

[Rand]

A publication has been in my mind from start (~15 years ago), but it will not happen any time soon (or at all if done by others). I have plenty of material to publish 'something', but I do not feel it is ready for a meaningful analysis that advances numismatic and historical fields.

The dataset is far from complete:

• I am ploughing through old catalogues. Fortunately, more appear online. I hope to spend a holiday or two in Fitzwilliam Museum (if allowed) going through the 40,000 catalogues in their collection.
• I need access to local museums (especially in France and North Italy) and some bigger museum collections. Coins in local museums are more likely to be from local finds - my best hope to fill gaps in the 'barbarian' series. Mostly, I have no reply from museums or a kind of 'go away' reply.
• I hope to travel to small museums taking photos and coin records. I tested Musée des Antiquités in Rouen a few weeks ago during a family holiday. It shoud have a tremissis from Nesle-Hodeng find reported by Jean Lafaurie in ‘Trouvailles de monnaies franques et mérovingiennes en Seine-Maritime (Ve-VIIIe siècles)', 1980. I hoped to get a better quality of the pictured photo of the coin and see what else they have. The museum has not replied to my email. The numismatic collection is part of the museum's online advertisement, so I went there anyway. On visiting them, I was told that I could not access coins not on display. The displayed collection (except several French coins) is shown below. I need a better strategy for approaching museums, perhaps learning some French or finding a way of introduction. Some museums might expect non-official insensitive/fees, but I am naive about the traditions.
• I need to learn quality coin photography! I learnt a lot from the thread by @Kaleun96 However, I need to make the set portable (e.g., Keiser has a portable copy stand). I fear getting museum permissions will be challenging. I may end up using an iPhone, which is far from ideal.
• I had to learn about data management, which has been mostly sorted. I am still cracking automatic visualisations of die-links in chronological order. Doing this manually is a pain, even for smaller series. Lots of rearrangements are needed when new dies appear, especially when multiple officinas shared dies.
• I have to complete finds records. I have records of 177 hoards and single finds that included Anastasian gold, but many miss photos or have poor quality photos. I recently updated this section so it links directly with coin records, die records, publications, etc. Still a lot of work to do. It is exciting to trace the movements of coins from particular series, possibly suggesting their intended minting and distributions (e.g., to support Ostrogoths fighting in Italy with Odovacer).
• Getting the historical perspective has been relatively easy. There are few contemporary or soon-after records. Those surviving have been well published and discussed. Coins are one of the significant records of the period! I particularly enjoy mapping the military campaign movements of the Franks and Burgundians (if I am correct in interpreting letters on their coins). 
• The gold used has different shades, with likely different metal compositions of non-imperial series. I am happy to offer my collection for analyses as soon as they are none-disctructive. I aimed to get representative coins from different mints/denominations. I have a few same-die duplicates,and triplicates for validation work, and die-linked coins. The British Museum has the world's biggest collection of Anastasian gold coins, nearly twice bigger than mine (and I may not even know about some). However, their permissions to move coins for analysis could be prohibitive. I have started discussions with numismatic academia. I shall see what happens.

Irrespective of the results, it is rewarding enough to discover old secrets! However, a publication would need to be done with academic input, leaving my fantasies to me and facts for sharing.

From Jean Lafaurie. ‘Trouvailles de monnaies franques et mérovingiennes en Seine-Maritime (Ve-VIIIe siècles)', 1980.

Numismatic collection on display in Musée des Antiquités in Rouen (except a small display of French coins, 1520-1590).

Edited June 18, 2023 by Rand