How to identify FAKE Ancient Coins - Cast Fakes

Today, we are looking at the most common counterfeiting technique for faking ancient coins: Casting.
For a better understanding on how to avoid fake ancient coins, watch this video as well: • How to AVOID Fake Anci...
💰 Help the Channel by "Buying me a Coffee": www.buymeacoff...
Like the drawings on my videos? Get them on a T-SHIRT: classicalnumis...
Recommended Literature (affiliate links)
100 Greatest Ancient Coins - amzn.to/3hKz1o4
The Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins - amzn.to/3iTB1vv
Greek Coins and Their Values - amzn.to/3mKng4S
Recommended STORAGE and DISPLAY solutions for your coins (Affiliate links)
Transparent diamond COIN DISPLAYS - amzn.to/39Tmmyu
Leuchturm Coin case L6 - amzn.to/3ttvMbL
Leuchturm Coin Box 35 - amzn.to/39TBkV0
Leuchturm Coin case S6 - amzn.to/3aAZTFu
Music: Adventurer by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
creativecommons...
SEO Tags:
ancient coins, roman coins, roman imperial coins, roman republican coins, roman coin collecting, numismatics, roman silver coins, roman bronze coins, rare roman coins, ancient roman currency, roman denarius, sestertius, aureus, roman coinage, ancient money, history of roman coins, roman numismatic study, early roman coins, late roman coins, roman coin values, how to collect roman coins, roman coin identification, roman empire coins, roman republic coins, roman coin hoards, roman coin grading, numismatic history, ancient coin authentication, roman coin minting, roman coin types, roman provincial coins, understanding roman coins, coinage of rome, roman coin collectors guide, roman bronze coinage, ancient roman trade, rare roman denarii, museum roman coins, coinage of the caesars, julio-claudian coins, flavian coins, antonine coins, roman legionary coins, roman emperor portraits, roman historical coins, numismatic education, ancient coin investment, roman coins for beginners, roman coin auctions, julius caesar coins, augustus coins, tiberius coins, caligula coins, claudius coins, nero coins, vespasian coins, titus coins, domitian coins, trajan coins, hadrian coins, marcus aurelius coins, commodus coins, septimius severus coins, diocletian coins, constantine the great coins
#ancientcoins #fakes #coincollecting

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Join my Patreon: www.patreon.com/classicalnumismatics Or maybe "Buy me a Coffee": www.buymeacoffee.com/classicalnumismatics

[@Numischannel]

Yes, the key phrase is that, Leo: "too good to be true". Super well explained, and beautiful coins shown (I mean the real ones! 😅)

[@BennyBunghole-tk7ts]

The amount of knowledge I've gained from you is immeasurable. Many thanks.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

It makes me very happy to know Im helping the coin collecting community. You are welcome :)

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

One of the best ways to detect a fake seller on eBay is to look at the other items he is selling. If they are selling a lot of single unique pieces they are more likely to be genuine. If they are selling a lot of the same looking pieces and they are likely fakes. Because it is very difficult to produce hundreds of different unique fakes while it is very easy to produce hundreds of simple fakes.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Very good tip indeed!

[@DConstructiveCritic]

Always read their feedback section as well.

[@isabelcrb]

Extremely useful guide for any beginner collector! Thank you very much for your videos

[@BilgemasterBill]

Thumb's up for another fine and helpful episode. I'm off to find your earlier one on the topic. Much as I always feel an odd sense of unease at seeing a lovely old coin anachronistically entombed in one of those grading service lucite sarcophagi, the fakes out there are getting SO good and becoming SO hard to detect, even with special equipment, that I hate to concur that I almost understand why it's quickly becoming necessary to certify them....especially with costlier ones.

[@2is1gold]

Thanks for making these!

[@boognish9869]

Cool to see you here. I was quite jealous of your athenian tetradrachm lol

[@tedlawrence4189]

Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference,between a grainy surface on a genuine coin, from the grainy or porous surface on a cast fake.

[@abdulazizalmrbati693]

You really nailed it with this video, very valuable lesson i just reviewed i fake coin i had and i saw the seam and the crack filling on the fake , this video is a great reference

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Would you like to support the channel and my work? 💰 Help the Channel by "Buying me a Coffee": www.buymeacoffee.com/classicalnumismatics Consider buying some channel Merch! You get a cool T-Shirt or Mug and you help me make more Ancient Numismatic content. Thank you! leob.creator-spring.com/

[@martinback187]

Why not having a QR code for donations with crypto currency.

[@hasashoepugower1691]

This is why I find hammer struck coins among the most interesting the way they deformed as the hammer hit the metal it always deforms it in someway that no modern machine does and how each coin is different

[@modyro3560]

Insanely useful. Saved me right away.

[@solinvictus39]

Thank you so much for this. I've been thinking about branching out into ancient coin collecting and this is great info!

[@benbream2235]

Chinese coins are the hardest fake coins to spot as the original coins are cast 😢

[@koen8185]

But if you're not a purist and you just want to build a nice collection of very good reproductions - Greek , Roman , Russian , German/Austrian coins and medals , you name it - , you're the lucky one . For about € 2 per coin you have all the choice there is....

[@letstradetogether2897]

yes we Chinese are good faking the coins lmao😂

[@koen8185]

@@letstradetogether2897 Veeeery good... !

[@thearchy8680]

​@@koen8185 Imagine holding centuries of real history in your hands. It's like comparing masturbation against hot sensational sex 😅

[@koen8185]

@@thearchy8680 I'm a wanker , so....😉

[@sebastianmaharg]

Thanks so much, Leo. As always, super interesting and useful. Perhaps you could consider making a video on the third century 'barbarous radiates' in the near future.

[@길가온-l3d]

It's sad that there are few ancient coin collectors in my country and there is little data. Thank you for the useful information!

[@oldworldchris4187]

Very useful, thank you for your postings!

[@mathewaitken938]

Often on eBay you will see too many amazingly preserved coins either being passed over, or if sold, an exact twin appearing in a future (often the very next) auction. Study the bidding history and avoid coins that are pictured poorly, ie blurred.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Very good tip!

[@ocat7682]

Very instructive and interesting, bravo !

[@sinjohnsmyth8301]

Take a close up picture of a real coin and the fake using a camera phone and flash. Zoom in,and you will see the cast coin looks like the surface of the moon compared to the struck coin

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thats right! Casting bubbles are one of the main signs of a cast counterfeit

[@zpy-nq7wv]

LOVE YOUR VIDEO SIR . VERY EDUCATIONAL. THANK YOU .

[@sebastianmaharg]

It ŵould be amazing if you could also make a video analyzing flan or struck forgeries with artificial patinas and weathering. To me, they are the most dangerous kind...

[@sebastianmaharg]

@@thedinobros1218 that took a lot of thought I bet.

[@vonvastvonbangkokmuenchhau9754]

Thank you very much for your information. I came to your site for my Kushan Indian gold coin and Bactrian Greco-Roman Gold coins. Easy to detect the fake!

[@hyrdocomputing]

Cast fakes aren't the problem. It's the struck coins made with fake dies which have ethier been milled or edm'd which are the really tricky ones to tell. Almost impossible to tell if they're gold coins.

[@Numischannel]

I would say struck fakes made with transfer dies (which are made from original coins) may be quite dangerous because they are struck and the style is correct, although you sort them out by checking the edge, or rather the border, near the rim... but some modern fakes made by advanced microcasting techniques are even more dangerous.

[@drinknova]

@@Numischannel I see you have a channel, can you make a video talking about this issue? How to avoid those dangerous fake coins?

[@netanelostrov3425]

Love your channel!!! Do you by chance give private lessons on coin collecting?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thanks for the kind words! :) No, my content is free and for everyone

[@Gya1225]

Thank You for the Great Info!

[@flameguy3416]

There are so many fakes on Ebay. And Ebay does NOTHING about them, even when the seller says they're authentic.

[@DennisHeikki]

What are you talking about? You can get an Ides of March for a few hundred dollars! You can't even find those coins at all on MA Shops or Vcoins. Ebay is great for coin collecting!😂

[@dexagalapagos]

Can you do a video on how to tell apart struck fakes?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

For sure! Im still studyig the subject, as struck fakes are a little bit harder to detect, but I'll eventually make a video on my finds.

[@hyrdocomputing]

Couple more things now I've watched the whole video. Cast fakes made with lossless wax casting won't have edge casting seems although may have a mark where the wax spru is joined. With lossless wax casting the plaster is put into a vacuum chamber to minimise bubbles and when the gold or silver is added a jewelers/dentists centrifuge is used in order to completely fill the mould. More modern advances in 3d resin printing means you can now cast in wax for lossless casting and with some relatively simple maths the size and volume can be modified to take into account the shrinkage in casting this can all be done in the 3d modelling software. These fakes won't fool the Harland J Burke's of the world but they will fool experienced collectors who aren't aware of modern technology. Also you can "cast" dies as well which although is expensive (usually you want to do it in 12k-14k gold -but saying that you can always melt down your dies afterwards. Numismatic forgery by Charles m Larsen is a fantastic book but it could do with an update with modern techniques.

[@mikebarushok5361]

It's still quite difficult to replicate genuine patina. And a cast coin will ring duller than a struck coin. But you are correct that state of the art counterfeit coins require better detection methods.

[@JoeRussellProductions]

Thank you so much! Although, I wish I would have seen this before I bought five coins on eBay. After I received them, I'm going to take them to my local coin place so they can do some metal testing on them to see if any of them are actually real.

[@tedeby5351]

Rotary investment casting would probably be very hard to detect. I've worked with investment casting where my fingerprints came through on the final piece.

[@forbanch]

Very good video! Please make more videos on this topic

[@andrewyezzi5317]

Thank you for the video my friend… I’m hoping you can point me to a reputable website for an Alexander the Great drachm

[@stevekovoc3939]

Easily MA Shops or Vcoins. You'll find tons of genuine ones on there.

[@abijahdixon2771]

Thank you so much! Fairly new and fakes are one thing I am concerned about, especially coins that look like they could be worth something...

[@Ron4885]

This is interesting 🤔 thanks.

[@gordongrant408]

Thanks Leo most useful.

[@DieLuftwaffel]

The info is gold! Silver and bronze too!

[@Jesse_Dawg]

Please make more videos about fake coins and fake precious metals. Like how much do they actually make per coin at each quality level? How many fakes are made a year and are entering the inventories of dealers? What are high value fakes that have sold for big monies? Please more like this. Thank you and have a good one

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

This seems to be a massively popular theme, I need to study it further, but I'll certainly make more episodes in the future :)

[@Gandalf932]

Anyone know where i can buy coins for kaiser wilhelm or for any czar

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

check out MA Shops, these are easy to find there

[@Gamerdude497]

Anyone have suggestions for reputable parthian coin dealers?

[@Nunyabidnuz]

I found a reputable dealer on ebay, I've found gold ones and electrum....had them checked.....I ONLY buy from him....

[@Glorious_God]

Great content like always

[@martinstensby2011]

Thanks! It looks as I have not been fooled! Yet…

[@loug2414]

Excellent! Thank you.

[@Parnissios]

Thanks for the informative video, is it so hard to make fake struck coins? If so can you please explain why?

[@Michel-7.7.7]

Try to make one and find out

[@TheNightshadePrince]

I think it’s more expensive than hard, making metal molds for mass producing anything is extremely expensive and time consuming process. :)

[@mikebarushok5361]

One of the first reasons is that unlike a mold for casting, the dies for striking must be hard metal. This means several steps that require expertise far beyond mold making. Another reason is that once you have acceptable dies with sufficient hardness you need the correct flan or planchette and there's some effort needed to get the diameter and thickness correct. Then there's the striking process. Which could use a press or hammer. For accurate replication it's a two person job. The flan is heated to anneal the metal and placed on the stationary, lower die and the upper die held in alignment and struck one or more times. Misalignment will produce a reject. Compare the above to prepare a mold, melt the metal and pour into the mold then when cool separate the mold halves. Much simpler and therefore cheaper, so very commonly done.

[@nathaniel.h7124]

Where does they make the fake ones from what material? I have a Denarius Augustus and it’s real silver I’ve tested so I should be fine?

[@maggiefranks6849]

Depends on how much you paid for the coin. Silver isn't _that_ expensive and is easy to work with. Take it to a coin shop and see what they think about your coin's authenticity. Experts can generally tell fakes pretty easily

[@nathaniel.h7124]

@@christianweatherbroadcasting you are right!🙏🏻 put my name on internet and see what it means! ;)

[@okiedokie4663]

Very thoughtful!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thank you! Glad to see this video is providing good value to collectors

[@philt6919]

THANK YOU!!!!!

[@vahagenestepanian9288]

I need help identifying real ancient art to buy and create my own personal little museum in my house

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Good that you found this channel then. Check out the entire playlist for beginners, it should help

[@thirdperihelion4686]

Great video!

[@manuelarita6801]

Thanks for posting this document. l have a Thasos Tetradracm , a very beautiful coin, yet a cast fake l´m sure, more and more now. Well, c` est la vie..

[@janiskar7892]

Thanks 👍👍👍👍👍

[@PaulMccarthyIII]

will laser sintered coins become an issue with detecting counterfits? especially now that 3d scanners are getting more detailed than their silicone counterparts?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Of course not.

[@PaulMccarthyIII]

@@ClassicalNumismatics vids are great! Thanks! Learning a lot, just starting collecting

[@AGryphonTamer]

It's kind of interesting to me that cast coins are a common way to fake a coin. Historically they struck the coins because it was cheap. If the goal was perfection they would have removed the flashing, and struck the coins dead center. remelting any with tears/defects. Counterfeiting wasn't even a real worry (so long as the coin was made of the right purity of gold/silver). It honestly seems worlds easier to me to make a coin the historical way than to try and cast it.

[@jeffersonp402]

Is there any way I could send you a link to a coin currently for auction or get your opinion on a specific ebay seller? I've seen the other videos on fakes, and you are by far the best resource I can think of to check to give an opinion

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Sorry, I dont offer this kind of personal advise, I hope you understand that if I answered all of you people's requests, I wouldnt have time for anything else. I have plenty of tutorials and there is quite a bit of material online that should provide enough content for you to study and develop an eye for detecting fakes.

[@GothTransCarl]

I really want to buy a silver shekel of tyre but I’m scared they’re all fake off eBay. I wish there was a real reputable place I can get one

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Check out my playlist for beginners, it should help

[@puskastroj]

👌super

[@melissachampine]

Aka vasilios kosman here Use to collect USA native American items historic My mentor told me there was same problem w indian peace metals cast fakes He said way to tell diff was put a magnifying Glass on the letters Strike the corners edges of letters are ninety degree corner's On cast they come put rounded Don't know if this apply to acients?

[@ET3Roberts]

I can hear the irritation in your voice about buying some of those fugazi ancient coins. I will heed your warnings.

[@donkramer8848]

How much should a decent owl coin cost that’s real?

[@foguista]

the athens tetradrachm?

[@donkramer8848]

@ yea

[@Fummy007]

I accidentally bid on a fake the other day. It wasnt a scam or anything, just they said the time period it was from so I assumed it was real but further down they mentioned it was a "modern collectable item". Always read it all before bidding because I won and couldnt back out of paying for it! Its a septimus severus with his wife on one side and caracalla on the other by the way.

[@BilgemasterBill]

Reproductions of any coins-ancient or modern-sold in the United States must be clearly marked as a reproduction, copy or replica under terms of the _Hobby Protection Act of 1973._ If yours is not, you may still have legal recourse, no matter how well hidden in the auction text or how it may be stated that it is not genuine. It MUST be struck or cast into the coin itself.

[@abijahdixon2771]

​@BilgemasterBill I bought some coins the other day from a souvenir shop, I figured they were just tokens, but they are heavy even for their size, I'll have to check that again, as they were less than ten dollars. Seems like they would not sell something as a real coin seeing as we are in a small capital city...

[@fleckensteleworm4889]

But what if I don’t want a genuine ancient coin, rather, just something that looks pretty in coin form?

[@Lauri-B]

Now you know not to over pay!

[@404Creeper]

You sound brazilian, am I right?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Certíssimo :)

[@slavi98]

Did you ever get a coin from an auction that was fake?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Personally I believe I have never bought a fake coin from an Auction house. SEEING possible fakes on catalogs is another thing. Yes, I have seen fakes on some occasions, and voiced my concerns to the seller.

[@slavi98]

@@ClassicalNumismatics Cheers! Excited to get my first order of ancient coins in hand from a few auctions over this last weekend. Your videos definitely guided me over the last 2 years so thank you very much.

[@Glitter_H_Hoof]

11:16 flattened?

[@bartsaxton7071]

Id love to have a serious discussion with you about the coins were really made.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I dont understand what you mean by "a serious discussion". These videos ARE the result of serious research and are accurate.

[@tohidethepain2888]

Were can I get an other othentic Greek coin?

[@Kingaronfi]

i usually find a real coin on the internet and then i compare it with the one that i want. if the details match up i will buy it.

[@AlexandrosAthanasopoulos-sl3re]

Well that’s a good point and you should do it but remember they won’t be exactly the same both real ones may have different aspects

[@DConstructiveCritic]

I dont buy ancient coins from any seller with less than 500 transactions and 100% positive feedback. Ebay accounts with only a few transactions have little to lose and could vanish overnight.

[@drinknova]

But bothering me most are those fake coins that were actually struck, please make another epsode to explain how to spot those fake coins produced using ancient method with real pure silver and gold.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I'll definitely make one of these in the future, I need to study a bit more about the techniques.

[@RD-tu1td]

So make cast molds with a real coin and use them to cast striking keys then strike about 4 grams of silver at a time. Thank you sir

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Well, it aint that simple 😂

[@oxylepy2]

See now what I want are high quality modern struck recreations

[@Thebois753]

8:31 Eastern Roman*

[@Mustafa1998]

just melt the fake

[@БарыгаФанпеевич]

Расскажу способ как отличить подделельную античную монету. Первый способ: анализ металла, по анализу сразу станет все ясно, но могли также сплавить оригинальную монету и из него сделать подделку. Второй способ: Сейчас подделки чеканят, и определение подлинности по "литью" не разумно. Чеканят их благодаря какому-нибудь прессу или обычным молотком, но так как на эти предметы давят очень медленно,то образуются трещины, по которым можно отличить подделку. Современные монеты же это где-то с 1700 годов или когда появились чеканные машины в ваших странах, там чеканная машина очень быстро чеканит монеты с быстрой скоростью и с давлением более 1000 кг, там можно отличить поддельную монету по блеску через защищенные места, на оригинальной же монете блеск проходит через буквы и портрет, а в поддельной монете блеск только колебается в поле монеты. Если вы меня правильно поняли, то вы сможете легко отличить поддельную монету.

[@albertmagician8613]

The chinese maintain art works over hundreds of years in a process of continuous restauration with skills that match the original creators. It is a different mind set, compared to a Western view that the original Nachtwacht or Mona Lisa are sacred.

[@jonathannwonye2754]

Cold pressed step bro!

[@silvanaalbanese4887]

Vorrei che parlasse in italiano

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Sorry, I dont speak Italian :)

[@eric.1948]

Id say this is why you do not get into this.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

This hobby has been around for a good 3, 4 centuries. The techniques of identifying fakes are very well developed and there is a wealth of knowledge passed down for generations, and constantly improved upon, on how to identify fakes. But hey, if you dont want to get into ancients, its your choice.

[@OneManCanStopTheMotorOfWorld]

thats a lazy answer bs excuse for not even trying

[@jonathannwonye2754]

My mom use essential oil and all of them are cold pressed.

[@jonathannwonye2754]

Technically the 3rd coin in real just a dark story so don't call them fake it's called mastering a time line makes it one of a kind your welcome.

[@jonathannwonye2754]

Third one real

[@jonathannwonye2754]

Roaming coins Or you could call them roman coins Have time dilation wrong was built in a day but not an earth day so all the coins are stained with time dilation so Rome was both my day so it's coins everything day but then maybe the coins are about 3 years each make some more.