Spent 6 hours trying to date a Roman coin that turned out to be a 1970s tourist replica

I found this corroded bronze coin at a dig site near Bath and was convinced it was from the 3rd century, but after cross-referencing with 4 different catalogs and emailing a curator, she ID'd it in 2 minutes as a modern souvenir. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon on a fake artifact that fooled you completely?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.sean12d ago

Did you ever read that story about the British Museum where they found out a bunch of their "ancient" coins were actually clever forgeries from the 1800s? It really makes you wonder how many times this kind of thing happens. I remember a buddy of mine who collects old bottles telling me he bought a "Civil War era" medicine bottle at an auction, only to find out later it was from a 1970s reproduction kit. It stings, but honestly it just makes us more careful for next time. At least you got a quick answer from that curator, which saved you from going down a rabbit hole of wrong information.

jamie_clark9d ago

Honestly, the British Museum thing blew my mind too. @ross.sean, your buddy’s bottle story is exactly the kind of thing that makes you paranoid. What worked for me after getting burned on a fake “Victorian” inkwell was to always snap a pic and run it by a local historical society or a Facebook group for niche collectors. I sent a blurry photo of mine to a guy who runs a small museum, and within an hour he pointed out the mold seam on the bottom was way too clean for the 1800s. Saved me from wasting more cash, and now I just assume everything is a reproduction until someone proves it isn’t.