Late Roman Bronze Coins
Coin talk => Fakes => Topic started by: Victor on November 13, 2025, 07:19:51 AM
I just saw this silly fake for sale on eBay. The listing is deceptive as it doesn't say that it is a copy, only that it is an AE restrike of an AV medallion. The buy it now price is low enough that the seller could claim it is obviously a fake for such a small amount of money.
"Æ strike of AV (Gold) Medallion (37.7mm, 34.89g.) Diocletian, Nicomedia mint, struck 294 A.D. References for the AV Medallion: PCR / Principal coins of the Romans: Volume I: The Republic c. 290 - 31 BC; Volume II: The Principate 31 BC - AD 296; Volume III: The Dominate AD 294 - 498. (1202) RIC6 / The Roman Imperial Coinage, vol. 6: from Diocletian's reform (AD 294) to the death of Maximinus (AD 313) (1, p.553) BMCRM / Roman Medallions in the British Museum (1, p.79) Gnecchi 1912 Vol. I / I Medaglioni Romani: Volume Primo: Oro ed Argento (6, p.11) Stutzinger 1983 / Spätantike und frühes Christentum (106).
This is an example of the largest size of gold medallion known from Tetrarchic times. The size enables the creation of a particularly powerful 'portrait' in the Tetrarchic style; shorn of any imperial regalia (such as a laurel wreath) Diocletian is presented as a forceful-looking but depersonalised caricature.
Like the ordinary gold coins of this year, the reverse honours one of the guardian gods of the newly established Tetrarchy, that of the eastern house of Diocletian and Galerius: the 'Jovians'. (Jove is the alternative name for Jupiter / Zeus). Minted at Diocletian's capital, Nicomedia, it was possibly distributed for the occasion of the appointments of the new Caesars."
feedback from people after discovering that their coins were fake
This seller has much more such copies which are not clearly described as copies. And he turned these vague descriptions into a sales strategy.