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Ancient Coins Buyers From our Collection of Classical Marbles RomalJ morble hllsl o/a b('(jfdcd imd/ertunl Gsa Greek ROII/mill/orbie life-size bus/ oj M ClUmder, AlilclliolJ IJOCI, philosopher. SecQnd half of 211d CC III"'y A .I>. k (l(lillS writer of Ihe Nf'>V COIIII'f/Y (CII. 342-293 B.c. ). 22- //2~ (57.1 CIII.) Earl)· lSI Cemllry /1.0. 15 H (38./ cm.) Announcing the publication of o ur 50th Annivcrsary cat a log. 96 pages, over 470 objects in full col or ....... ..... ............. .. ..................... $ 10.00 We f<;:l lurc over 3500 works o f ,In ranging from $100 to $1 .000,000 ON 1': TlIOUSA ND YEARS OF GREE K VASES (1990), all d more, wk ing great pride in ollr ex pertise, connoisseurs hip, :md 52.pp ............ .... ...... ................................................... .. ... .. .. $ 4.00 compelitive pricing. all in:l11 open and friendly mmosphere. GODS & MORTALS: An cicnl Bronzes (1989), 52 pp ...... $ 4.00 Sl'n e! fur !ILl I" NEW FREE full-colo!' J 2-p;lgc hr oeh llrt,! THE AGE OF CLEOPATRA (1988),32 PI' ........................ 5 2.00 The following full -color publications arc aJ!;() availahle: ART OP THE AN CIENT WO I ~I . ]) (1 9R5). 208 pp ......... ... 515.00 G REEK, ETRUSCAN, ROMAN, EGYPT IAN AND NEAR EASTERN ANTIQU IT IES EU ROPEAN SCULPTURE TIIROUGH 1SOO . O LD MASTER ORA WINGS ISLAMIC, SOUTH EAST ASIAN AND O R IENTAL WORKS OF ART PR E-COLUM IS[AN ANI) TRIBAL ART · GREEK, RO MAN AND BYZANTINE COINS royal-athena galleries new york - beverly lIills -london Eslahlishcd 194 2 J Cl"Om c 1\1. E i s c nh cq~ , Ph.D" Oil'cctor 15,1 ]::,,,( 571h SI. , ,,\"~"" Y"" k, NY 10022 16, ('I",c ,I... , AnIl4,,,.i,,-,., (2S E.. " S71h $'. 3.n No.. ,h (3, 'v.-rly Dr. l<. ..,y"I · Alh",,"", ll.A S,," hy Ltd T,·I.: (2 ]2) .15S·20}-I F.o .~ : (2 12) 611 11-0-l ll N.·,. Y..,rk. NY 10022 Td (212) 59]·1193 B.. ,,'.:rly llo ll>, CA 90210 7 1)",h-. S" ,,·'. Lo"'~ ' n WIY ILL. £ngl'''ld ~ 1 " "oI ,,)'-Sa ''' n l ''J, ]0 (n 6 ~ 1 "",I. ,y S,"""I.,),. I I I" 6 Tel.. (2 lJ) 550-1199 Td (44)07 1 495·25'l() F:u (213155{)·1395 ~ 1 <>nd.'y . Ft i d"y. 9:]0 10 5 )"t"'ki.a)' S",,,,doy. 10,<> 6 , INSIDE THE CELATOR... Vol. 6, No. 5 FEATURES May 1992 6 Consecration issues commemorated the 'Ifie CeCator deification of the Roman emperor by James Meyer Publisher/Editor Wayne G. Sayles 22 Depictions of the lyre and kithera indicate Office Manager the importance of music in ancient Greece Janet Sayles by Mark Rakicic Associate Editor Page 6 Steven Sayles Consecratio coinage 30 Markings indicate the denominations of ancient Rome RCC Liaison of Byzantine minor coins James L. Meyer by James Meyer by Stewart J. Westdal Production Asst. Chris Lane 36 Two methods Dislribution Asst. Cataloging an ancient coin collection C hristine Olson by Warren w. Estyand Marvin Tameanko Rochelle Olson Art 42 Who 's on First? Hypothetical history: Parnell Nelson Scrabble of the ancient world The Celalor by Tertius Chandler (ISSN 1110480986) is an independent journal published on the first day of each month at DEPARTMENTS 226 Palmer Parkway, Page 22 Lodi, WI. II is circulated The lyre and kithera on coins internationally through The Celator's Point of View subscriptions and by Mark Rakicic 2 special distributions. Subscription rates. 4 Letters to the Editor payable in U.S. funds. are $24 per year (second class) within 26 People in the News - Profiles in Numismatics the United States; $30 to Canada: $48 27 Art and the Market - Quotes from the Past per year to all other addresses (Air Printed Marter). Advertising and 28 Coming Events copy deadline is the second Friday of each 33 Book News month. Unsolicited articles and news releases are welcome, however 34 Antiquities by David Liebert publication cannot be guaranteed. Second Page 30 41 Just for Beginners by Wayne G. Sayles class postage paid Byzantine minor (USPS #006077) at lodi, WI 53555. coin denominations 44 Coins of the Bible by David Hendin Copyright @t992, by Stewart J . Westdal Clio's Cabinet. Postmaster; send address 45 Coin File - Trivia - Humor changes to P.O. 60)( t23. Lodi. WI 53555 Aboullhe cover: 46 Reference Reviews by Dennis Kroh Reverse of an AE-Sestertius, 608-592-4684 commemorating Divus Anton­ 48 Professional Directory in us Pius. Struck under Marcus (same fOf FAX, after hours Aurelius (A.D. 161-180). activate with asterisk on 56 Index of Advertisers - Classifieds touch tone phone) Deadline for the June issue is Friday, May 8 usually starts with a feeling, not wilh a discovery. The reason Ihat expertise can be acquired in this area is that there arc so many coins of absolute authentic­ ity passing through the coin market each • • year that one who spends a lifetime working in this field cannot help but Commentary by Wayne G. Sayles develop an insti nct aboulthesecoins. It is probably not far afield from Pavlov's dogs (no offense 10 coin dealers) that conditioned response manifests itself in he International Bureau for the cas on the prototype coins are usually the unconscious reaction of an "expert". Suppression of Counterfeit repaired or masked with the addition of This suggestion may be hard to accept T Coins, based in Zurich, Swit­ some detail; fields on gold coins kad 10 for those who have scientific and ana­ zerland, has released Bulletill on COUIl­ be perfectly flat, like "'melted choco­ lytical minds, but I assure you it has lerjeils Vol. 17, No.1 for 1992. In the late"; pal1ern of wear docs not make merit. current release, the agency unmasks the sense, e.g. sharp detail on high points So, if these "experts" are so instinc­ activities of two clever and extremely but wear on lower parts of the relief. tive, how did they miss the BMF forger­ competent forgers who had deceived Although 30 specimens were listed ies for so long? Well, another feature of much of the numismatic fT<lternity for in the IBSCC report, one party close to the human experience is that we some­ several years. According to the report, the problem has indicated that more arc times allow enthusiasm to override cau­ the two forgers, who arc assigned the likely to be announced as the situation tion. In a market craving new and exciting pseudonyms "Costodoulos" and unfolds. The bulletin very clearly indi­ material, it is hard to be cynical when a "Gulyas", developed <111 intricate sys- cated Ihat this deception was discovered rare beauty comes along. Much of the market is built on trust, and the source of these forgeries wasa highly trusted indi­ "Fortunately, the scope of damage vidual. Defenses were down and trusts were violated - it's an age-old story. is relatively contained" On a coin by coin basis, with no com­ parati veanalysis to guide one, these coins were splendid fakes. As usua\, however, tem of production and distribution which and exposed by members of the numis­ greed seemed to get the better hand of included the creation of hand-made matic trade who had handled the coins, common sense, and the forgers dipped modem dies; the re-cutting of dies made with refunds going to the disfranchised into the well a lillIe 100 often. from actual specimens of ancient coins buyers. The IBSCC is an arm of the Had they not been greedy, would which were in turn restruck and en­ International Association of Profes­ they have succeeded? Perhaps. Have hanced; and the introduction of corro­ sional Numismatists, whose code of others who were not so greedy already sion and crysta llizat ion to lend credibil­ ethics is among the most respected and succeeded? Undoubtedly! Is this a ity. best enforced in the numismatic field. cause for great concern? Probably not. Many of the dies created by the forg­ Fortunately, the scope of damage is The percentage of forgeries residing in ers were reportedly made from models relatively contained. Although some collectors' trays has \ 0 be very tiny, but acquired in the form of British Museum firms have suffered significant finan­ they are there. Every "old" collection electrotypes. These pre-WWI electro­ cialloss, the threat to most collectors is that comes to a dealer will have a few . type copies were originally made for minimal. The natural tendency of all That's how dealers build their "black" scholarly research and artistic apprecia­ collectors, whenever an incident like trays. It's kindof an annoyance, but not tion and, although no longer produced, this is revealed, is to questi on their own really a disease unless you have numis­ arc still widely collected. Because of holdings. I am repeatedly asked the matic cardiac arrest from your prize the many forgeries created from these same question ~ How can you be sure possession going under. The best pro­ model s, the IBSCCdubbed theduo"The that the coi ns arc authentic? Whenever tection is simply to buy from a dealer British Museum Forgers", undoubtedly a forgery passes undetected for some where you ha ve recourse if the coin later an unsavory term from the museum's period of time, it weakens the credibil­ proves false. If you choose to buy point of view. The forgeries, however, ity of the "system" that assures buyer elsewhere, you merely have to evaluate were not limited to BM prototypes. confidence. Basically, that system - in and accept the risk. The report lists several hallmarks of spite of scientific advances - is one of Don't lose any sleep, unless perhaps the forgers, including higher, more acquired expertise.
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