Late Roman Bronze Coins

from the alleged Smederova Hoard

In 2009, a "hoard" was discovered (actually it was freshly minted!) in Smederova (Serbia). The seller was David Suter from Switzerland, on Ebay he is a notorious seller of fake coins and has had many I.D.'s including Julius-nepos.


I saw some of these in a picture a few years ago and recently saw this one for sale on E-bay Germany. I bought it (pretty cheap too, maybe everyone else knew it was fake) because I wanted to see it in hand. If you are not familiar with these coins, this type might fool you- they always sell. There are many things that are not quite right with it though. To name a few-- the ear seems off (it looks like the letter C), the bridge of the nose did not look right, the S of CONS in the exergue looks odd, the border of the coin is all wrong, many of the details are just too soft, the edges are soft and smooth which makes it seem it was struck with a hydraulic press. In hand it is even more evident that it is fake-- it has a very smooth feel to it. So this coin is not dangerous for an experienced collector, but a newer collector might easily be fooled.

Here is a picture of the other fakes.

I just saw two more of these Dafne fakes in lots on Ebay Germany.

another example that I just saw


The seller (coinauction12) ignored me when I told him it was a fake. I am glad it did not sell for too much- around $19.00.

I just saw this one on Germany Ebay. In fact, every coin that this guy (caleta25) is selling is a known fake. He even has another of the Dafne fakes for sell.

coinauction12 has another one for sale. I just saw that he is on FORVM's notorius fakes seller list already.

I have seen all the types in your photo for sale regularly here in Vienna- usually by sellers from the former Yugoslavia.  Sometimes they are on their own but sometimes they are mixed with genuine, though very low quality, uncleaned coins.  In that case these stand out as the "better quality" coins.  I have even seem them coated in dirt and with various fake patinas applied.  The only two types by the same counterfeiters that appear to be missing from your photo is a GLORIA EXERCITVS two standard type and a larger GENIO POPVLI ROMANI Nummus for Diocletian.  This last one is newer - I have only seen it in the last 8 months or so.

Shawn

it's been a while since I noticed one of these fake DAFNE coins for sale.

one of these fakes is in the upcoming Savoca auction

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I messaged them with a link to this topic and they withdrew it.

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It's not that important, but the alleged town of origin of these fakes is not Smederova (there is no such place) but Smederevo. Smederevo was at one point in XV century the capital of medieval Serbia, just before it was conquered by Turks.

thanks for the correction