Bar Kokhba is it authentic?

[Amarmur]

Looks like it's too nice to be real.Weight and size seem right. Thanks for your help!

[Hrefn]

I am no expert on these coins.  But if that is an artificial patina on a modern counterfeit I would be very surprised.  (And rather horrified as to the degree of skill of the unscrupulous.)   I am very curious to hear the opinions of others.

although…. Is that a casting seam around the edge?

Edited December 8, 2024 by Hrefn
Addendum

[Amarmur]

Yeah it's a casting seam. Dang! The guy is an ancients seller man I feel ripped off. He said it was from an old collection. I know some Judeans are cast but not this type I think.

[JAZ Numismatics]

100% fake. I hope you can get a refund!

Edited December 8, 2024 by JAZ Numismatics

[Amarmur]

8 minutes ago, JAZ Numismatics said:

100% fake. I hope you can get a refund!

This was an ancients dealer at a coin show. I will get a refund. Thanks!

[Hrefn]

Another case solved by the International Coin Police.

[John Conduitt]

That’s poor if an ancients dealer thought that was genuine. Not right at all and a seam you can see in a photo of the obverse. I presume it didn’t cost $600+.

Edited December 8, 2024 by John Conduitt

[Kamnaskires]

From the black box of fakes kept by eBay seller - and coin buddy - Cody111111. He asked me to share it here. Hard to make out the details, but I think the center coin is likely is match.

 

Edited December 8, 2024 by Kamnaskires

[Amarmur]

2 hours ago, John Conduitt said:

That’s poor if an ancients dealer thought that was genuine. Not right at all and a seam you can see in a photo of the obverse. I presume it didn’t cost $600+.

It was 90 dollars (suspiciously low but I bought an authentic Carian drachm from him for that same price). I'm going there in a few weeks to get a refund. Very surprising he thought it was authentic. He has a ton of inventory, so I guess he never gave it a good look. I bought a few incredible ancients coins off him pretty cheap. The most I've ever spent on an ancient coin is $400 and that was only once the majority of my collection is $100 and less coins. A bit sad I chose this one, he had an amazing Athens owl drachm for $130 but it sold super quick.

[JAZ Numismatics]

For one thing, the dies on these types were always larger than the flans, and it's extremely rare to see a complete dotted border on even one side of an authentic coin, never mind both.

[Factor]

I would not define this item as a fake. It is too strikingly different from actual Bar Kochba coins. The inscriptions are in modern Hebrew rather than Paleo Hebrew used in Judean coins, the style is completely different, it clearly is a cast. Overall I don't think it was made to deceive numismatists or pass as a real thing but is actually a tourist souvenir and is not pretending to be anything else.

[mcwyler]

2 hours ago, Factor said:

I would not define this item as a fake. It is too strikingly different from actual Bar Kochba coins. The inscriptions are in modern Hebrew rather than Paleo Hebrew used in Judean coins, the style is completely different, it clearly is a cast. Overall I don't think it was made to deceive numismatists or pass as a real thing but is actually a tourist souvenir and is not pretending to be anything else.

While it may not have been made as a fake, it was in a dealer's inventory for a price that may not have been great, but was more than one would pay for a novelty item. So it was a fake when sold.