Can it get any worse? Yes it can ...

[Heliodromus]

Looking at my LRB searches on eBay today has been like enjoying the vista at a sewage treatment plant ... an endless sea of sh***. The fake-to-geniune ratio is through the roof! Mostly the ultra-poor quality cast fakes from coinmaster_01, and slightly better fare from blitz1978e.u

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse ... Player "baithz" enters the game on eBay France, with a whole new class of fake I'm calling the "silvered mules", selection below.











What are these people thinking? What an odd combination of pretty decent fabrication skills, combined with the numismatic knowledge of a toilet roll.

[Victor]

I think that as he was stitching photos, he has combined the wrong obverses and reverses.

[Heliodromus]

Possible, but this group of photos can't be reassembled into a valid set, so some would have to come from coins he hasn't posted.

In particular the (Lyonese?) DN MAXIMIANO doesn't have a valid match among that set, although 4/5 can be made to work.

[Heliodromus]

Just heard back from the seller who say he may indeed have mixed up the photos, and will check tonight.

Given the similar appearance of the coins, I assume if not fake then they must be a group find.

[Heliodromus]

You were right ... mismatched photos (with one reverse missing, one reverse unrelated to obverses). Coins seem totally legit.

[Victor]

I have seen a few sellers on eBay do this...usually newbs.

[Lech Stępniewski]

Well, I also have had several accidents with "unlisted coins" which was created by jumbled up pictures. So what the seller finally said (and done)?

[Heliodromus]

The seller added pictures of the correct reverse to go with each obverse. The pairings are as I guessed above, except:

1) The Rome GENIO POPVLI ROMANI reverse isn't actually from this group of obverses - the Galerius pairs with the 2nd Trier GENIO instead

2) The Maximianus pairs with a Lyons GENIO POPVLI ROMANI that wasn't initially there at all

Still, even without these, the number of fakes on eBay at the moment is ridiculous. Someone's been tracking the number of fakes that have actually sold (not just been listed) - 500 from one seller in a single month.

[Lech Stępniewski]

Thanks. Looking at these coins I was seriously scared: such dangerous fakes with nothing really suspicious for me. So now it is really a relief.