In earlier days Beirut was the hub of activity for forgers, and many very dangerous forgeries still originate in that area. Since the fall of the Communist regime, Bulgaria has also emerged as a major center of forgery activity in many different areas, one of which is ancient coins. The best known Bulgarian imitator of ancient coins is Slavey Petrov. He is presently a dealer in coins and antiquities in Munich, who formerly had a workshop and gallery in Haskovo, Bulgaria where he produced a variety of imitations of ancient coins. The best description of his work is that he did not attempt to exactly imitate ancient coins, but instead produced imitations according to his own artistic interpretations. In many cases these interpretations were very different from the originals, however he sometimes achieved striking works of art. A catalogue of his known coin imitations has been posted online.
In 2003, 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 - "Modern Counterfeits and Replicas of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins from Bulgaria" - . It covered a large group of contemporary fakes of ancient Greek and Roman coins from Bulgaria - 204 specimens in gold, silver and bronze.
In this 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.
Greek … ‘ancient’ coins
Abdera, silver tetradrachm Sold on ebay September 2006 for $990
Akanthos, silver tetradrachm Sold as genuine on ebay April 2008
Amphipolis, Macedon, drachm Sold without warranty on ebay May 2009
Amphipolis, silver tetradrachm Sold on German Ebay by French seller in Sept. 2005 for 445 Euro.
Apollonia Pontica, Thrace, Black Sea Area Sold on ebay as genuine November 2007
Apollonia Pontika, silver tetradrachm old on Ebay in September 2006 for $980
and many moreeeee……
Greek Archaic and Classical
Hellenistic Period
Celtic and Barbaric
Roman Republic
Roman Imperial
This (Slavey Petrov) he 's known to all the museums for the .. handmade fake coins and medals.
Roman Provincial (Greek Imperial)
Byzantine
