Pressed Diocletian Aquileia?

[six2ten]

The first image is from FAC Fake Reports, the second currently for auction. With what look to be clear signs of being a pressed fake? Confirmation appreciated!

[Heliodromus]

Yes - fake.

Anything you see in the FAC fake reports reported by Prokopov are coins produced in Bulgaria from modern dies, so same dies means fake.

Prokopov literally wrote the book(s) on Bulgarian fakes.

The example of this type on FAC is described as struck (vs pressed), so maybe this one too.

[six2ten]

Thanks for the confirmation re it being a die match to the FAC. If it is pressed (I have never seen a pressed fake in hand) then I was wondering whether forgers mix and match between pressed and struck. It seems to me that there are more 'tells' with a pressed fake so using that manufacturing technique runs the risk of helping to better identify false dies?

[Heliodromus]

> I was wondering whether forgers mix and match between pressed and struck.

I don't know, but I'd have guessed any given source is more likely to stick to one technique they are familiar with and have the equipment for,.

Luckily with LRBs there isn't much care put into fakes, and not that many varieties around, so fake detection seems to be mostly a matter of recognizing known fakes types. Of course seeing double die matches should set you on alert too, since they're relatively uncommon with genuine coins, and certainly odd looking surfaces (presses) would be another tell.