Real or fake

[Amanda]

The third coin is 22 mm and weighs, 4.87 g

The first coin is 15.6 mm and weighs 2.73 g

The second coin is 15.6 mm and weighs 2.84 g

 

Edited April 7 by Amanda

[Postvmvs]

All three are modern fakes.

[Amanda]

14 minutes ago, Postvmvs said:

All three are modern fakes.

Thankyou, but can I ask what makes you think they are fake (just learning here 😂)

[ambr0zie]

Wrong style, mushy surfaces. This only comes with experience. 

Also all three are expensive when genuine (especially Didius Julianus and Balbinus). No chance these are real. 

[Amanda]

Ok thankyou x

[John Conduitt]

Even though these are clearly fake, it is actually quite hard to tell why.

Here is the first coin, RIC IV Macrinus 91. The left is from Münzkabinett Wien, the centre is yours, and the right is from Münzkabinett der Universität Göttingen.

The left is most obviously genuine. The features are sharp, there are flow lines from the legend, the surface is not pitted but not too smooth. If it was worn, this would be on the high parts more than the more protected areas. If you buy coins that look like this, you have a good chance of them not being fake.

Yours looks fake because the details are mushy. Macrinus's features are sunken. There aren't any flow lines from the legends. The edge is rounded more than would be by wear. The surface is slightly pitted all over (including on the bust) as it would be if you cast it.

The coin on the right doesn't look all that much different to yours. But you can see that the details are sharper and slightly more raised (although worn), Macrinus's features are not so sunken, there are flow lines from the legends (if worn) and although the surface is a bit rough, it is not pitted all over.

 

Edited April 7 by John Conduitt

[ominus1]

idk...they lQQk ok to me...from what i can see clearly.... i'm no expert...(but known to be quick to holler "fake!":P)

Edited April 7 by ominus1

[Amanda]

56 minutes ago, John Conduitt said:

Even though these are clearly fake, it is actually quite hard to tell why.

Here is the first coin, RIC IV Macrinus 91. The left is from Münzkabinett Wien, the centre is yours, and the right is from Münzkabinett der Universität Göttingen.

The left is most obviously genuine. The features are sharp, there are flow lines from the legend, the surface is not pitted but not too smooth. If it was worn, this would be on the high parts more than the more protected areas. If you buy coins that look like this, you have a good chance of them not being fake.

Yours looks fake because the details are mushy. Macrinus's features are sunken. There aren't any flow lines from the legends. The edge is rounded more than would be by wear. The surface is slightly pitted all over (including on the bust) as it would be if you cast it.

The coin on the right doesn't look all that much different to yours. But you can see that the details are sharper and slightly more raised (although worn), Macrinus's features are not so sunken, there are flow lines from the legends (if worn) and although the surface is a bit rough, it is not pitted all over.

 

Thankyou for explaining 🥰

[ominus1]

...well, i have several  good fakes(and some are collectible)...two by the master, Carl Becker 🙂

[Amanda]

Do you think mine are worth anything?

[ominus1]

yeah they're worth something...:)

[CPK]

2 hours ago, Amanda said:

Do you think mine are worth anything?

If they are fakes (which seems the most likely) then probably no more than $10 - $20 as interesting replicas. Perhaps slightly more, if they're struck from real silver.

[Amanda]

9 hours ago, CPK said:

If they are fakes (which seems the most likely) then probably no more than $10 - $20 as interesting replicas. Perhaps slightly more, if they're struck from real silver.

They are not magnetic so I’m assuming silver

[maridvnvm]

Let me start with the Didius Julianus. It is a cast fake. 

Here is a matching cast fake from a fakes database. I have seen these coming on to the market since about 2004 :-

 

[maridvnvm]

Now the Macrinus.

It is another cast fake. Here are 3 of many matching fakes from a fakes database. These came onto the market from the same sources as the Didius Julianus above. The distribution network was known colloquially as "the Toronto Group" as they were primarily based out of Toronto.

 

[maridvnvm]

Now the Balninus.

This is another cast fake from the same source. 

Here are several matchiing copies. The also came from the "Toronto Group".

[John Conduitt]

Yes you can search for fake coins here. You need to look carefully as the flans and marks can be different.

[Bucket88]

Is this fake (casted)