Counterfeits: What was done

Besides counterfeiters having their hand chopped off or losing their
lives, another consequence of counterfeiting has been the defacement
of coins. In ancient times, people would sometimes slash a coin with a
blade to reveal if there was good metal (silver or gold) underneath
the surface, creating a "test cut." Other times, an official would
stamp the coin with a "banker's mark," certifying it was of proper
weight and good currency.

Almost always, defacements like these reduce the value of a coin. But
sometimes they can be visually interesting. I wanted to share a
classical Athenian Owl I recently picked up that has both a test cut
and a banker's mark, both on the reverse. The test cut is particularly
interesting, bisecting the owl's head and body nearly exactly in half
and confirming to the curve of the owl's body:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgo..._test-cut.html


--

Coin Collecting: Consumer Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos

Reid Goldsborough wrote:
[...]
Almost always, defacements like these reduce the value of a coin. But
sometimes they can be visually interesting. I wanted to share a
classical Athenian Owl I recently picked up that has both a test cut
and a banker's mark, both on the reverse. The test cut is particularly
interesting, bisecting the owl's head and body nearly exactly in half
and confirming to the curve of the owl's body:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgo..._test-cut.html

Interesting, how much is such a coin?
Just curious.
Wolfgang

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 16:46:57 -0400, Reid Goldsborough
wrote:

Besides counterfeiters having their hand chopped off or losing their
lives, another consequence of counterfeiting has been the defacement
of coins. In ancient times, people would sometimes slash a coin with a
blade to reveal if there was good metal (silver or gold) underneath
the surface, creating a "test cut." Other times, an official would
stamp the coin with a "banker's mark," certifying it was of proper
weight and good currency.

Almost always, defacements like these reduce the value of a coin.

I have found that coins with the bee counterstamp cost twice that of
those without.

beekeep

I wouldn't buy a coin that looked like that. The coin has been destroyed
by an ancient a-hole. Yup they were around then and they live on today.

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 16:46:57 -0400, Reid Goldsborough
wrote:


http://mywebpages.comcast.net/reidgo..._test-cut.html


Who'se banker's stamp is it?

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 19:36:32 -0400 (EDT),
(Edward McGrath) wrote:

I wouldn't buy a coin that looked like that. The coin has been destroyed
by an ancient a-hole. Yup they were around then and they live on today.

It wasn't distroyed by an AH - it was distroyed because governments
were as corrupt back then as they are now. It was a common practice
back then to check the coins..

beekeep

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 23:15:39 +0200, "Wolfgang Haeupler"
wrote:

Interesting, how much is such a coin?

This one cost me $270 through eBay. Without the test cut the hammer
price would probably have been about $450. It's a coin that's more
than 2,400 years old, minted at the apex of ancient Greece and the
first widely circulated international currency. Slightly larger than a
U.S. quarter and maybe four time thicker. About 98 percent pure
silver.

--

Coin Collecting: Consumer Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 19:36:32 -0400 (EDT),
(Edward McGrath) wrote:

I wouldn't buy a coin that looked like that. The coin has been destroyed
by an ancient a-hole. Yup they were around then and they live on today.

You have to remember that these coins weren't approached in ancient
times as we approach them today, as collectibles. They're were money,
and people needed to know if they were good money. Many, many ancient
coins have test cuts or banker's marks on them, not because people
were jerks or whatever back then and wanted to ruin a piece of
numismatic artwork for future generations but because they didn't want
to be cheated by a counterfeit plated with silver or gold with a base
metal interior.

--

Coin Collecting: Consumer Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 18:48:57 -0500, Jorg Lueke
wrote:

Who'se banker's stamp is it?

As far as I know, it was the First Bank of Athena, which was located
on Zeus Blvd. at the base of the Acropolis right next to Starbucks.

(Typically, these banker's marks are unidentifiable, as is this one.
Very little surviving documentation survives that could link this with
a particular banker or official.)

--

Coin Collecting: Consumer Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos

On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 22:59:13 GMT, (beekeep) wrote:

I have found that coins with the bee counterstamp cost twice that of
those without.

Interesting. You would know. g I have one Ephesos "Bee" drachm and
one Alexander the Great lifetime tetradrachm from Babylon with a bee
in the reverse left field, but that's about all the bee coins in my
collection. No bee countermarks.

--

Coin Collecting: Consumer Guide: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Glomming: Coin Connoisseurship: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Bogos: Counterfeit Coins: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos