HASLEMERE AND THE LEGENDARY ANCIENT COIN FORGERS

Bob Van Arsdell writes:

Three legendary forgers, Giovanni Cavino, Carl Becker and Constantine Christodoulos, are renowned for producing extremely deceptive fakes. Their coins occasionally appear on the market undetected, showing they can still fool the experts. The lives and careers of these forgers have already been published. This article compares their work to that of a troublesome forger of Ancient British coins.

The Haslemere Forger began faking Celtic coins around June 1960 and never stopped . It's possible he trained apprentices in the craft who carry on his work today – though this is mere speculation. In previous articles, I have shown how he improved his work in response to criticisms.

By 1991, he was producing some superb forgeries, ones that fooled almost everyone at the time. By comparing his 1991 Cheriton stater to the work of the legendary forgers of the past, we can appreciate how good (and how dangerous) his fakes are.

Christodoulos struck fakes from 1900 to 1914 . This stater is struck from obverse die 332 in Svoronos. It is possible the die had been modified between the time this coin and the Svoronos plate coin were struck. However, the same die defects (two dots on the upper right) appear on both coins. The reverse die was not recorded by Svoronos and is reproduced here for the first time.

Becker produced fakes during the 1820s . This coin is struck from the dies for Hill 75 (Pinder 78). The original ancient type was a gold stater, though this fake was struck in silver. Becker offered complete sets of his coins in silver , so the appearance of a silver example is expected. This coin represents a "wrong-metal forgery" or perhaps just a "fantasy". Becker's heirs (after his death in 1830) offered sets of coins struck in a soft tin/lead alloy

Giovanni Cavino lived from 1500 to 1570 and was active in the mid 1500s . He is one of the forgers identified by Vico in 1555 .

Not only was Cavino an accomplished die cutter, but he also was expert at antiquing and patinating his coins. This Ostia sestertius shows convincing wear and has a beautiful brown and green patina.

Summary
The Haslemere Forger had improved his work greatly from 1960 to 1991. At the end of that period, he was capable of work rivaling that of Constantine Christodoulos. If he continued to improve his work after that time, he may very well have been capable of forgeries as good as Becker or Cavino.

The Haslemere Forger is certainly in the league of the legendary forgers. As such, he should be seen as a dangerous falsifier of the archaeological and numismatic records.

To read the complete article, see:
Modern Celtic Fakes 5 – Haslemere vs. the legendary forgers (vanarsdellcelticcoinageofbritain.com/coin_articles/v2014e.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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