Modern Counterfeits and Replicas of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins from Bulgaria
“Modern Counterfeits and Replicas of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins from Bulgaria” by I.Prokopov, K. Kissyov and E. Paunov.
This is a second booklet on the counterfeits of ancient coins from present-day Bulgaria.In 1997, a team of three co-authors lead by Dr. Prokopov prepared and edited a first small book of fake coins, which was subsequently published in Sofia. It covered a large group of contemporary fakes of ancient Greek and Roman coins from Bulgaria – 204 specimens in gold,silver and bronze. The present catalogue is the result of that firstbooklet.
The authors prepared the second book in 1998 in the same format. It was not until 2003 that a publisher for this book was found. Prior to publication it was necessary to edit andreformat the manuscript – this publication is the result of that work and reflects information gathered up to the spring of 2003.
In this small format (22.5×14.5 cm) catalogue is published a large group of modern forgeries of ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins coming from Bulgaria. 192 coins in gold, silver, copper, and bronze are catalogued and illustrated with nice black&white photos in chronological and geographic principle. From the total number, 112 specimens are Greek (2 in gold, the remainder in silver); 78 Roman
(Republican – 5 denarii and a gold coin of 60 asses; Imperial – 18 in gold, 34 in silver, 5 in bronze, including 5 interesting 4th c. AD’ multipla/medallions in gold and silver), as well as 2 Byzantine pieces. A special section of the catalogue is devoted to a group of 77 modern fakes of Thasian type Celtic/Thracian imitation tetradrachms, all in silver. For the first time, 8 sets of new steel dies for striking of Roman Republican and Imperial coins are illustrated and commented.
A comprehensive 5-pages introduction provides background information about the phenomenon of coin forgery production in Bulgaria. The patterns, technology and workshops known are discussed as well as some up-to-date references quoted.
Publication is devoted to serve to professional numismatists and amateur collectors and make familiar with the modern fake types of ancient coins. Such imitations are offered for sale in museum giftshops as replicas and souvenirs in Bulgaria and in the West and North America for use in coin jewellery. The series include a third issue with some 150 additional forgeries.