quant.geek Posted August 21 · Member Share Posted August 21 (edited) Ebay's automated responses were no help when I tried to report the auctions... Edited August 21 by quant.geek 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotwheelsearl Posted August 22 · Member Share Posted August 22 I assume these are fake, what are the hallmarks other than the “off” feeling I get? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benefactor Theodosius Posted August 22 · Benefactor Benefactor Share Posted August 22 They look flat instead of cup shaped for one thing. The style just feels wrong too. John 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrefn Posted August 22 · Supporter Share Posted August 22 It is regrettable, because I have no doubt there are many honest people in Serbia, and in Bulgaria, too. But any coin on eBay coming from those countries needs to be approached with caution. I would recommend starting with the assumption that such coin is a fake, unless a die match can be found on acsearch, or other more reliable source. As to these coins, specifically: I agree with @Theodosius. And I would add that such complete legends on coins of this era would be quite unusual. To have a whole run of them with complete legends really strains credulity. I believe that because the convexities of the obverse and reverse dies were not identical, the authentic coins were usually struck twice. The coins are most affected at the periphery, where the legends are. Here is a beautiful, unusually excellent, coin of Manuel Comnenos, SB-1958. Even this coin lacks all the legend on the left. And the epigraphy on the right is not so great, either. Also, observe the discontinuity of the double beaded circle at the top of the coin. This is clear evidence of the double striking. The die shift here is minimal, which is why the images of Manuel and the Virgin are so good. But close examination of them shows more subtle evidence of the double strike. Mary’s halo has a break in it. There is faint ghosting of each of the figures to the left and the right. Findings like these are typical of the coins of the era. I would love to hear @TheTrachyEnjoyer’s thoughts on this. 12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valentinian Posted August 23 · Member Share Posted August 23 I hope those members who can spot eBay fakes will report them to the CFDL (CoinForgeryDiscussionList) https://groups.io/g/CFDL/messages Reports are useful to a wider collecting community. Sellers who sell too many fakes get added to lists such as: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/fakesellers.html which I recommend you consult before bidding on any item on eBay if you don't know the seller. Bookmark it and use it. However, do not assume it is a complete list. If sellers have not been reported to the membership of the CFDL, it may have escaped the attention of those who compile fakesellers lists for the benefit of the collecting community. 6 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theotokevoithi Posted August 25 · Member Share Posted August 25 Wisdom : Buy what you know and not everything that is circular and looks like a coin. These trachea (photos by quant.geek) are too perfect to be true. Even in their times if they existed they would have been recognised as fakes. Ebay can not have any control of authenticity, it is a jungle. Stay away from informing them, maybe some of the sellers are a form of local mafia. MA, V and auction houses collect an ammount of money for their reputation as a service for providing original coins. Serbia is new on these things. Bulgaria s new laws are strict. These coins (original trachea) can be found : West Turkey, North Greece, Bulgaria the late empire coinage, Serbia, Albania. The Bulgarians and Serbians have their own scyphate trachea too, wrongly called imitations, which are not appreciated by collectors temporarily. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted September 3 · Member Author Share Posted September 3 Sorry I couldn't respond to the replies on the thread. I have been swamped with work-related production issues that required my attention. I haven't had a break in a while and thank god, it was labor day. The OP coins are extremely cartoonish and as some of you indicated, it is extremely rare to find full legends on any of these coins, let alone several coins on ebay. Look at Alexius I and his neck! It looks more like Goofy than Alexius... 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ela126 Posted September 3 · Member Share Posted September 3 2 hours ago, quant.geek said: Sorry I couldn't respond to the replies on the thread. I have been swamped with work-related production issues that required my attention. I haven't had a break in a while and thank god, it was labor day. The OP coins are extremely cartoonish and as some of you indicated, it is extremely rare to find full legends on any of these coins, let alone several coins on ebay. Look at Alexius I and his neck! It looks more like Goofy than Alexius... sadly, a collector on Reddit has just posted the Alexis to show it off, 2 hours ago. he was immediately told it was fake, but had paid 107 for it. hopefully Ebay helps him out. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted September 3 · Member Author Share Posted September 3 Got the link for the Reddit post.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ela126 Posted September 3 · Member Share Posted September 3 9 minutes ago, quant.geek said: Got the link for the Reddit post.. https://www.reddit.com/r/AncientCoins/s/wM41NBBQ4k I never linked a Reddit post but I believe this is it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quant.geek Posted September 4 · Member Author Share Posted September 4 Thanks...It seems that the coins were returned and now its re-posted on Ebay... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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