Numismatic Forgery

Prepared by : Pundalik S. Baliga

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II
Roll No 3, M.A. Part I, Semester II (Academic Year 2013-14)
Dinesh Mody Institute of Numismatics and Archaeology, Mumbai
Numismatic Forgery

Dedicated to

Shastri JC Philip
for his immense research in the field of Indian Numismatics Forgery.

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Index

Sr No. Contents Page No

1 Forgery – an overview 3
2 Numismatic Forgery 3
3 Forgery of Indian Money 3
4 Reasons for Numismatic Forgery 5
5 Uses of Forged Money 6
6 Types of Numismatic Forgery 8
7 Methods of Minting Fake Coins 11
8 Detection of Forged Coins 17
9 Some Forged Coins 19
10 Photographs of Fake Coin Minting Factory in China 22
11 Conclusion 25
12 Bibliography 26

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“If I can produce something so correctly, so perfect that the experts declare it to be genuine, then for all
practical purposes it is genuine. There is no fraud involved when I sell it.”

- Convicted Master Forger Mark Hoffman

Forgery – An Overview

Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent
to deceive. Replicas and reproductions would not be termed as forgery if it is not made with an
intention of deceiving. Counterfeiting is the word that is mostly used for forging money or currency. But
consumer goods may also be counterfeits if they are not manufactured or produced by the designated
manufacture or producer given on the label or flagged by the trademark symbol. Perhaps the word
forgery might be well defined as a concrete falsehood, for the suggestion of falseness is involved in the
whole idea. Imitations may or may not be forgeries according to the intention of the maker to deceive or
not.

Forgery is derived from the Anglo-French verb ‘forger’ meaning ‘to falsify’. Forgery can be defined as

“The act of reproducing something or making changes in the original for a deceitful or fraudulent
purpose”

The most commonly things that are forged are things like paintings, documents or signatures but the
most harmful forgeries are those that have been carried out with currency or money. It is wrong belief
that forgery is a sin of modern times, but the truth is that this fraudulent act has been around ever since
the first coins were made.

Numismatic Forgery

Money is anything which can be used as a medium to exchange goods of different values on a day-to-
day basis and serve as a store of value for future purposes. Whether it is in the form of gold or silver
coins, printed notes, or electronic currency, the net “worth” of any given unit of money is always more
than the actual worth of the monetary unit. The worth of a paper note might be nothing but when it is
issued by a ruling authority or anyone who has been given the power to do the same by the ruling
authority it becomes a paper with buying power. Forgeries of these currencies are called Numismatic
Forgery.

Numismatic forgery means duplicating or creating a copy of coins and circulating them with the actual
or officially minted coins. Numismatic forgery is done by either an individual or a group of persons for

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personal gain or for any other intention to malign or derail the economic growth of a nation.
Numismatic forgery also involves degrading the metal content of the coin in order to gain the difference
that is generated by mixing other metals in place of precious metals like gold and silver.

Numismatic Forgery is as old as coinage itself and is the world's second oldest profession. Forging coins
for the collector market appears to have begun at Padua in Italy in the mid-16th century, and has been a
problem for collectors ever since. Numismatic forgeries may be divided into two classes firstly those
intended to deceive the whole world, in other words, forgeries of money intended to pass as money and
secondly, those made with particular reference to collectors.

Forgery of Indian Money

As we all know forgery of money has existed in all the countries since the start of money. Similarly we
can also say that forgery of Indian money started from the time Indians started using money. This is
noticed in the writings of many ancient Indian writers who have mentioned counterfeit money and this
confirms that forgery did exist right from ancient times.

References about forgery from the writings of Kautilya

In the chapter Duties of the Chamberlain Kautilya says :

 He shall receive only such gold coins as have been declared to be pure by the examiner of coins.
 Counterfeit coins shall be cut into pieces.
 Whoever brings in counterfeit coins shall be punished with the first amercement.

In his chapter on the duties of the State Goldsmith he says :

 Spurious stones and counterfeit gold and silver may be substituted for real ones in compact and
hollow pieces (ghanasushira). They are detected by hammering the pieces when red hot so
much for confounding (pinka).
 Hence (the state goldsmith) shall have a thorough knowledge of the species, characteristics,
colour, weight, and formation (pudgala-lakshana) of diamonds, precious stones (mani), pearls,
corals and coins (rúpa).
 There are four ways of deception perpetrated when examining new pieces or repairing old ones
- they are hammering, cutting, scratching and rubbing.

Kautilya also prescribed the methods to deal with counterfeits and some of these in the chapter The
Removal Of Thorns he says :

 When the examiner of coins declares an unacceptable current coin to be worthy of being
entered into the treasury or rejects an acceptable current coin, he shall be fined 12 panas.

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 When the examiner of coins misappropriates a másha from a current coin of a pana, the tax,
(Vyájí) of five percent on the coin having been duly paid, he shall be fined 12 panas. This
explains the proportional increase of fines.
 When a person causes a counterfeit coin to be manufactured, or accepts it, or exchanges it, he
shall be fined 1,000 panas; he who enters a counterfeit coin into the treasury shall be put to
death.

In the chapter on Suppression of Wicked Living by Foul Means he lays down punishment for various
crimes, and then says :

 Manufacturers of counterfeit coins shall also be treated similarly.

 Whoever is suspected of manufacturing counterfeit coins in that he often purchases various
kinds of metals, alkalis, charcoal, bellows, pincers, crucibles, stove, and hammers, has his hands
and cloths dirty with ashes and smoke, or possesses such other accessory instruments as are
necessary for this illegal manufacture, may be requested by a spy to take the latter as an
apprentice, and being gradually betrayed by the spy, such person, on proclamation of his guilt as
the manufacturer of false coins, shall be banished.
 Similar steps may be taken against those who lower the quality of gold by mixing it with an alloy,
or deal with counterfeit gold.

Apart from these there are various other ancient texts that point out to numismatics forgery. This
confirms that forgery must have been a large-enough activity in ancient India.

In Modern India, forgery of paper-currency is a big activity and almost all are aware of them through
news. We also notice advertisements posted in newspapers by the government about how to detect
fake notes. These advertisements are also noticed in banks. Forgery of coins are not a big activity and
takes place at a much smaller volume as the profit margin is too low. There are many instances of
forgery of rare Republic India Coins and some very crude fakes targeted to deceive the collectors.

Reasons for Numismatic Forgery

We all know that the face value of the coin is always higher than the actual metal value. This face value
of the money attracts people towards Numismatics Forgery. To understand this lets first look at the
intrinsic and extrinsic value of money.

Intrinsic Value

Intrinsic value is the basic value of the material the coin is made up of. In other words the amount which
we get when the coin is melted and that metal is sold. For example If a gold coin which is a legal tender
is melted out of shape, it will no longer remain a legal tender, but the owner will get the amount
equivalent to the weight of the gold that is present. In short we can call this Metal value.

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Extrinsic Value

Extrinsic value is also the portion of an item's worth that is assigned to it by external factors. In short it is
the value written on the coin (currency). This can be also called face value. For example a 100 Rupees
note has a Extrinsic value of Rs. 100 but the cost of the paper on which it is printed might be in few
rupees. Here the actual value of the coin or paper currency is much more than the intrinsic value that it
commands. That value is known as extrinsic value. This extra value does not come intrinsically, but
rather is IMPOSED or ATTRIBUTED to it by the monetary authority.

Since the extrinsic value of a coin is often many times the inherent or intrinsic value of the coin or note
or financial instrument, forgers reckon that for a small investment (for forgery and circulation), they can
get a huge extrinsic value. Moreover the biggest advantage is that this can be done in the privacy of
one’s one premises and no physical risk is involved to manufacture the forged currency.

Uses of Forged Money

Forgery For Using It As Money

The most common use of forged money is to use it in circulation. We get news about counterfeit notes
everyday but forged money in circulation has always existed during all periods of history. More so
wherever precious metals (gold and silver) coins were part of the currency. During periods when gold
and silver coins were used, many forgers made coins that were identical in appearance with regular
coins, but which were either of lower weight or of inferior quality (debased) of gold and silver. Others
made coins with copper core and thick silver cladding. In all these cases they saved on gold and silver
that did not go into the coin. Some even made copper coins with heavy silver plating on them and this
increased their profit margin to higher degree than coins made of debased gold or silver.

In most of the Moghul and Princely States coins we can see testcuts or test punches. Some coins have
multiple test punches, made either by the same shroff or by multiple shroffs at different periods of time.
This is the evidence that counterfeiting of silver coins using a core of inferior metals was a common
practice in ancient days.

Forgery For Selling To Numismatists And Tourists

Numismatics is one of the most popular hobbies worldwide. While the common people are only
interested in the coins that are currently a legal tender, the numismatists are interested in both the
current and the ancient currencies. The forged coins are easily sold to numismatists who do not have
much knowledge about the genuinenity of the coins. Certain forged coins intended for sale to
numismatics, particularly ancient or rare ones which are counterfeited are difficult or almost impossible
to tell apart from the original and genuine article.

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Tourists who visit ancient historical places often love to collect souvenirs for themselves and also for
their friends. Thus when they spot what is claimed as “a two thousand year old coin from this very
historical spot” they are tempted to buy these coins. None even one among ten thousand tourists will
have the expertise to recognize a fake ancient coin of that country, even if it is executed very crudely –
because it is reckoned that ancient hand-made coins were crude compared to today’s machine-made
coins.

This opens up a very large market to the counterfeiter, because practically no government goes after
people who counterfeit defunct coins because such coins never enter the current money-stream

Forgery For Political Reasons

The science of economics has shown that there has to be a delicate balance between the money that
circulates, the volume of commerce, and the price of commodities in any country. Upsetting this balance
(mostly with the help of counterfeit currency) can totally destabilize the finances of a country, bringing
the government to partial or total collapse. Occasionally governments have issued forgeries for political
reasons, for example during World War II, Germany printed millions of British and American banknotes,
intending to profit from their use, but also to destabilize their enemies.

Types of Numismatic Forgery

Numismatic forgery

Contemporary Fantasy Modern

Official Unofficial Copies Commercial Academic

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CONTEMPORARY FORGERIES

Contemporary forgeries are those which are forged with the intention of defrauding the general public
at the time the original coin in question was in circulation. It can be defined as

“A forgery of a coin intended to deceive the public at the time the coin was in circulation.”

These coins were unofficial copies and were often made to look like well-worn currency as their
intention was to pass as legal currency. These are more likely to be found than any of the others.
Almost all of the counterfeits that fall into the contemporary category are produced by casting. In the
worst examples the detail on these coins are completely wrong with the legends miss spelled or parts
missing, date chronology incorrect, poor design detail and in some cases obverse and reverse miss
matching. Weight is one of the hardest things for the forger to get right in this type of forgery.
Contemporary forgeries are still a problem even today.

In short Contemporary forgery is the forgery done in earlier times and is not to be confused with present
day modern forgeries. Here, the word contemporary implies contemporary to the times when the
original coins were minted.

Types of Contemporary Forgeries

Official

All forgeries that took place inside the mint or authorized mints were termed as official. Some of these
forgeries were carried out with the consent of the ruler during times of crisis. Acting upon the unofficial
order of the king, the mint would carry out the adulteration of precious metal used for minting the
original coins. For example, silver would be mixed with a base metal but the resultant coin would be
circulated as a pure silver one. This kind of forgery can be called as forgery by the government.

Some other forgeries that took place inside those very mints were carried out by one or more of the
mint staff, without the ruler’s knowledge. However, these were also considered official only because the
mint that issued them was an authorized one. Such forgeries were generally made during the midnight
to ensure secrecy, hence giving them the name of ‘midnight artinity’. No record was made of the coins
produced in this manner. This led to more number of coins in circulation than those mentioned in the
officially published data of the mint.

These forgeries were very difficult to detect as, having been made inside the authorized mint, they
closely resembled the originals due to the use of the same materials and machinery.

Unofficial

All forgeries made outside authorized mints were considered as unofficial. These were made illegally.
This involved debasement of the metal content of the original coin or completely producing new coins
from scratch. In these cases, the forgers had to procure or manufacture their own equipment and
materials such as coin blanks, punches, dies, etc.

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A famous example of this type of forgery is that of the Chhaparbund family. They were master forgers
who mainly operated in Maharashtra and Gujarat during the 18th and 19th centuries. Forgery had been
their family tradition for generations before they were caught by the British and rehabilitated.

Copies

These can be defined as official issues of foreign coins by Indian mints by order of the king. For example,
the circulation of Roman coins in India. When Ancient India enjoyed trade with Rome, Roman coins were
very popular with Indian traders and were preferred also for internal trade. The reason was that as
these coins were imported, they were thoroughly inspected and hence held the guarantee of purity of
metal used. With the passage of time, as trade diminished, so did the inflow of Roman coins. However,
the Indian traders still demanded their use and to counter this problem, Indian rulers issued copies of
these coins.

FANTASY FORGERIES

Fantasies were mere copies of popular coins. They were not used for commercial purposes, but mainly
for religious ones. For example, Emperor Akbar’s gold coin became so popular that copies of it were
made and used as holy lockets (tawiz). These copies were termed as “fantasies” because they were
never produced with intend to meddle with the economy, but were created on the basis of concepts
and emotions like hero worship or reverence to higher powers.

MODERN FORGERIES

Modern forgery means recent forgery of a coin which may be old or new and which may be official or
unofficial. In short modern it is carried out in modern times (that is, present day). These forgeries are
not limited to coins in present circulation, but are also carried out on old coins to cash in on the
historical value they hold.

Though profitable, the forgery of old coins is difficult and risky. Old coins hold great intrinsic value due
to the purity of their metal. This purity is impossible to achieve and so any modern forgeries of such
coins hold the high risk of being detected easily. However, if undetected, the sale of these coins can
generate huge profits due to the discrepancy in quality. For example, a forgery of a gold coin of Jehangir
if undetected, may create a huge profit. The reason is that the gold used will be of inferior quality or
weightage as compared to the original. Thus the cost of producing this coin may be as little as two
thousand rupees. An enthusiast who is a novice not realizing this will go to any limit to buy this coin for
it’s intrinsic and historical value and may end up paying as much as ten thousand rupees, thus providing
the forger with a profit of eight thousand rupees.

On the other hand, the forgery of new coins is easier and also less risky as the use of a cheap base metal
only provides face value to these coins. Modern techniques such as electro-plating further aid this

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process by helping to create coins which resemble the originals almost exactly and hence make
detection very difficult.

Types of Modern forgeries

Commercial

These are forgeries of coins which are currently in circulation in the market and are used for commercial
purposes.

Academic

These are also known as replicas. They are exact copies of original coins used only for purposes of study
or research. Such copies are made either because the originals are too valuable or expensive to be
handled or the originals are not available. Most replicas have the design only on one side, the other side
being blank. Hence, the obverse and reverse sides are two separate pieces. The replica of Shah Jahan’s
hundred tola gold coin weighing 1.1 kilo is an excellent example of Academic forgery. The replica of this
coin is on display at the Dinesh Mody Numismatic Museum.

Examples of Modern Forgery

The Rama-Sita fake coins of Akbar

A great example of Akbar’s belief in secularism, these coins exist as only two pieces of gold half-mohurs.
There are also two silver half-rupees. This rarity has led quite a few forgers to create fakes. However,
forgers are careful to create only a handful of pieces as the scarcity of the originals is well-known.

One rupee coins of 1939

These coins are very popular with many coin collectors due to their rarity. They are singular due to the
fact that most of the 1939 coins were melted during the outbreak of World War II and only 100 pieces
supposedly survived. It is believed that the fakes circulating in the market have been produced from the
original dies as no prominent flaws are seen in the design.

Coins made by a coin forger named Shivanarayan Soni of Shujalpur (M.P.)

On being arrested, the accused acknowledged that he had been forging numerous types of coins such as
the 1939 silver rupee, sovereign of Sydney mint, Gupta gold coins of Asvamedha type, half, full and
double stater of Wima Kadphisis, aureus of Roman rulers, Hadrian, stater of Alexander, half-mohur of
Akbar struck at Agra, mohur, double-mohur and zodiac coins of Jahangir’s Agra mint.

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Methods of Minting Fake Coins

There are a few major methods by which modern forgers can manufacture fakes, each of which have its
own disadvantages. Master mind forgers can overcome some of these disadvantages but perfect fakes
are very had to be possible. Understanding these problems is the key to detection of fakes. However,
one must be careful as most of these methods (with the exception of electrotyping) were also used by
ancient forgers, and occasionally an ancient counterfeit will be confused with a modern forgery.

The basic techniques are

CASTING

Casting is a process by which a mould of an original coin is created and molten metal is poured in to
make the fake.

Types of Casting

Sand casting

Sand and clay mold castings are probably the least dangerous of cast forgeries, as the fakes made this
way are normally of such poor quality that even novice collectors can learn to spot them easily. Such
fakes are inexpensive and easy to make, and are generally intended for the tourist market. In this a box
is constructed in halves that fit together easily and are filled with fine sand or clay mixed with a binding
agent that holds the grains together while remaining soft. The coin to be copied is impressed into the
sand on each half, and a channel is cut from the edge of the coin to the edge of the box (this is known as
the sprew channel) so that when the two halves of the box are fitted together a mold is created. Molten
metal is poured into the sprew channel to fill the mold. The result is a copy of the original coin with a
metal "sprew" attached which is then cut off to leave just the coin. Each casting requires new
impressions in the mold, but it can be done very quickly. Also, each molding can have more than one
coin impressed so that multiple examples can be made with each pour.

There are several problems with this method that make such fakes fairly easy to spot :

1. It is difficult to fit the mold halves together perfectly and any gaps result in metal leaking into
the gaps forming what is commonly known as a casting seam, which may go either all or part
way around the coin.

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2. Casting seams on sand casts are usually more pronounced so have to be filed off or left very
visible, and it is very difficult to remove them without leaving obvious marks on the edge. Below
is an image of an edge filed to remove a casting seam.

3. Often, the two halves of the mold do not match up perfectly, so that one side of the coin will be
slightly offset from the other, generally with the offset running around the rim of the coin. Such
offsets are technically a type of casting seam, but are more dramatic and virtually impossible to
hide.
4. The sprew has to be fairly large because the molds are normally used cold, and if the channel is
too small the metal will solidify before filling the mold. The sprew must be removed by either
cutting or filing, which normally leaves marks on the edges.
5. The sand grains leave impressions in the surfaces, resulting in a textured surface that does not
look at all like that on an original coin. In the below picture we can clearly see such sand grain
impressions.

6. Sandcasting is a coarse method, normally with considerable loss of detail in the process. Coins
made by this method will generally be somewhat muted looking, as well as grainy.

Re-usable Metal molds

Many common reproductions made for giftware and never intending to fool collectors, are made in two-
piece re-usable metal molds. The process is the same as used to make home-cast toy lead soldiers with
an impression of the two sides of the coin on iron or aluminum molds that fit together easily so that
molten metal can be poured in through a sprew channel. The advantage of this method over sand
casting, is that the molds are re-usable, and hundreds or even thousands of coins can be cast very

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quickly with just one set of molds. Moreover there are no sand grains to leave impressions on the
surface, so the metal tends to have a smoother more natural look. However, it shares some problems in
that there will be a sprew that has to be removed, a mold line will normally be visible around the edge
and may need to be removed, and since it is even more difficult to get a fit between the parts of the
mold, significant amounts of metal may squeeze out between them leaving "flashings" of extra metal on
the mold lines.

Flashings

An additional problem is that metal molds are normally used cold but conduct heat quickly. This can
cause molten metals with high melting points to solidify before fully filling the molds, resulting in an
incomplete casting. This makes casting in silver, gold or bronze somewhat unsuitable for this method, so
metals like tin, lead or zinc with low melting points are normally used and must be plated with another
metal to have any chance of deceiving. Another problem is all coins cast from the same re-usable mold
will be so similar to each other that two placed side by side (as in the images above) will be very
obviously from the same mold.

Lost Wax Castings

Lost wax castings can be much more dangerous to collectors, but require correspondingly more
sophisticated equipment to make. This is a method commonly used by jewelers to make gold and silver
jewelry so the equipment is readily available. Fakes made by this method are normally aimed at
deceiving, although some are intended only for the jewelry market.

This is a two-step molding process and there are a few ways to make the first mold, but the most
common is to paint a genuine ancient coin with a rubber compound which captures details very
accurately. The rubber is vulcanized and then cut in such a way as to allow the coin to be removed but
the cuts will fit back together very closely. A small sprew channel is cut, into which hot wax is injected to
create very accurate wax copies of the original coin. The wax copy can be removed through the same
cut the original coin was. This rubber mold can be used to make large numbers of identical wax copies of
the original coin. While the waxes created from one mold are all identical and often have small casting
seams where wax leaked out at the cuts in the rubber, wax is very easy to manipulate to remove the
casting seams, build up or cut down edges to change the outline of the coin, or modify small details so
that they are not all absolutely identical. The wax copies are then fitted with a fine wax sprew an inch or

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so long, placed in a short metal tube with the sprew sticking out. A substance similar to plaster-of-paris,
known as "investment", is poured in to encase the wax with the sprew projecting out. When the
investment hardens and dries, the tube is placed upside down in a hot kiln until the wax melts and burns
out (hence the name lost-wax) leaving a cavity the exact shape of the coin, and the channel left by the
wax sprew provides a channel leading down from the surface of the mold.

While the mold is still hot from the kiln, molten metal is poured down the sprew channel to fill the
cavity, creating a fairly accurate copy of the original coin. There are ways using steam, or just centrifugal
force by spinning the mold, to force the metal more compactly into the mold, resulting in better details
on the finished coin. As soon as the metal solidifies, and while the mold is still hot, it is thrown into cold
water causing the investment to break up, and the coin just falls out. The sprew is then cut from the coin
and the coin is basically finished.

ELECTROTYPING

Electrotyping is similar to casting in that a mould is created but different in that metal is electroplated
onto the mould surfaces, rather than poured in a molten state. The electrotyping process was invented
sometime around 1850, almost immediately after electrical batteries good enough to manage the
process were invented. It was at first an industrial process, and the first copies of coins were probably
made this way some time in the mid 1850's. They can vary in quality, and the best ones would be very
dangerous fakes. The process is simple. One side of a genuine ancient coin is impressed into a soft
substance that captures the details of the coin. Normally fine clay is used, but almost any substance that
will take the impression can be used. The impression is dusted with a very fine conductive powder
(usually graphite), and then metal (usually copper) is electroplated onto the surface, forming a thin
metal shell that can have a remarkably accurate image of the original coin. The flaw with this process is
each side of the coin must be copied separately as it's own hollow metal shell. To turn these two halved
into a convincing fake, the edges have to be trimmed and the two halved joined. While for thin coins it
may be possible to connect the two shells directly, thicker coins require the shells to be filled to give
them strength and weight, prior to joining. Generally the shells are filled with lead, but even clay could
be used. The choice of filling will significantly affect the weight of the finished fake.

This method has three problems which helps us to identify it

1. The two halves have to be joined with a fairly strong binding agent, which usually means
soldering. This joint is going to be very difficult to fit perfectly, and virtually always one can see
evidence of it on the coin's edge.
2. Having to fill the halves makes controlling weight difficult, so electrotypes will seldom be of
correct weight.
3. Electrotyping normally involves electroplating of copper, so to create fake gold or silver coins
means having to then plate the finished copper fake with gold or silver, which seldom gives a
convincing look.

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DIE STRIKING

In this method a die is created, either by cutting a new design, or by impressing a pre-existing coin into
the surface of the die, and then the fakes are struck from the newly created die. Many modern fakes of
ancient coins are die-struck, as this is the only way to create the look and feel of an original die-struck
coin, the lack of which is one of the keys to spotting other types of fakes. The look and feel are not
enough to allow a fake coin to pass as genuine, as there are major technical problems in creating false
dies.

Types of Dies which are used for forgery

Hand-Cut Dies

False hand-cut dies can produce some the most dangerous fakes, but only when cut by a very talented
technical engraver. Such engravers are few and far between, and can make a very good living without
resorting to criminal activity. Most of the engravers attempting to cut dies are artists and so are doomed
to failure because of the nature of artistic training and the artistic mind.

Mechanically Cut Dies

These dies are made on machines which trace the surfaces of a genuine coin and guide another machine
in cutting a negative image of that coin into a new die. The advantage of these machines is that they
eliminate the artistic interpretive process that plagues people hand cutting dies. They allow them to
almost perfectly capture the image and style of the original coin.

There are several problems they cannot overcome

1. Genuine ancient coins are not perfect copies of the ancient dies they were struck from. The
same small differences that apply to hand-cut forgers' dies apply to copying machines. It is
probably even worse, because a human might be able to compensate for them to some degree.
A machine cannot.
2. The ancient tools used to cut ancient dies leave microscopic details on genuine ancient coins
that cannot be duplicated by a modern copying machine.
3. The machines that trace the original coin can only do so in a set pattern with a set spacing.
There is no way this can capture all the really fine details that hand cutting creates, and this
minor loss of detail creates a die that results in a coin that has a slightly "soft" lookover all.

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A fake 1970 coin made with mechanical die. Poor quality of engraving can be seen.

TOOLING

Tooling is a process by which the coin is actually carved, usually by hand or machine. Normally this is
used to change the features on an otherwise genuine coin, either to make it appear higher quality than
it really was, or to make a common coin appear to be a much rarer type. There can be a very fine line
between some types of mechanical and tooling. For the most part, what follows applies more to bronze
coins. Silver and gold coins are very difficult to tool, as it is almost impossible to hide the tool marks left
on the surfaces, and most forgers are aware that tooling of silver and gold coins will generally give very
bad results.

There are three types of tooling :

Forgery Touch-up Work

Some forgers will use a variety of tools to remove signs of casting (mould seams, raised bumps due to
casting bubbles, etc) to touch up their fakes and make them more difficult to spot. Some forgers will use
engraving tools to make them look closer to the originals. Sometimes this is also done in reverse. We
can see fake coins which have been artificially worn and/or artificially aged to make them look like well-
used old coins.

Changing Designs

Some forgers change some minute designs from the original coin to change the design and make it look
like a rare coin.

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Numismatic Forgery

An one rupee, 1970 fake coin. This coin is actually a cupro-nickel coin of 1976 of Mumbai mint. The last
digit '6' of 1976 is tooled, so that it appears to be a zero. But this zero is smaller in size and appears
towards the bottom of the line.

Detection of Forged Coins

Collectors who have handled many thousands of authentic coins are usually able to pick out fakes. Part
of this involves knowing what authentic coins of a particular type typically look like. Part of this involves
knowing what counterfeits typically look like.

1. The color of the coin is an very important aspect while detecting the forged coins. The colour of
the coin normally distinguishes the fake from the real one.

Contemporary Fake (1927), George V Counterfeit money

2. There is always a difference between the textures of the fake coin and a genuine one. This helps
us identify the fakes from the genuine coin.

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Numismatic Forgery

A fake and genuine 5 Rupees coin. The texture of the genuine coin is far more sharper then the fake
which is on the left hand side.

3. Knowledge of the techniques of minting is also plays an important role in detecting forged coins.
For example, a punch-marked coin made using the die-struck technique is obviously fake. A fake
punch-marked coin can be identified by the absence of the incuses formed by the punches on
the metal flan. The absence of the protruding mark on a cast coin helps to detect forgery.

4. The presence of a “filed” patch on a smooth-sided cast coin is an instant test of forgery.

5. Defective milling (either in terms of design or spacing) can also prove a coin to be a forgery.

6. The weight of the coin also is important which detecting fakes. Any coin that is of abnormal
weight needs proper checking.

7. In case of ancient coins, the purity of metals is also a vital test of it’s genuine nature.

8. Discrepancies in the clarity and spacing of figures or characters can also help detect a
counterfeit.

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Numismatic Forgery

Debased silver piece, showing three symbols with discrepancy in spacing of figures.
(Image Courtesy : Dr. Shinji Hirano.)

9. The ring, clang or sound of a fake coin will differ from that of a real one.

Some Forged Coins

Fake "Bent bar" flan, uniface, two identical symbols.

Long and narrow bronze bar with smooth red

patina, usually with a lot of flower-shaped and
sun-shaped bankers' marks. High quality bronze
bars with smooth patina (and without traces of
silvering), proves that the piece is fake.

Image Courtesy : Dr. Shinji Hirano.

Modern fakes of Silver Vimshatikas (heavy karshapanas) from Kashi and Kasala

The punchmarks are very crude, the reverse

small marks are struck randomly, unlike on
genuine issues, and the weight of the pieces are
4.5, 4.3 and 6 gms (on genuine pieces the weight
of about 4.3 grams is quite consistent). The coins
are artificially patinated with some brown agent.

Image Courtesy : Dr. Shinji Hirano.

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II Page 19

Numismatic Forgery

Genuine and Fake coin of Western Kshatrapas Ruler Bhartrdaman

This is a genuine coin of Mahakshatrapa
Bhartrdaman, son of Rudrasena II. Bhartrdaman
ruled as Ksatrapa (198-204 Saka Era / 276-282
AD) and later as a Mahakshatrapa (204-217 Saka
Era / 282-295 AD). He issued copious coinage
during this entire period. The style on them is
also quote crude, and the coins of Bhartrdaman
are not overly popular with the collectors.

This is fake coin of Mahakshatrapa

Bhartrdaman. The coin is softly cast, with the
traces of the casting channel at 10 o'clock on
obverse. The fake coin has two semi-circular
countermarks on the obverse (a common
feature for the coins of this period).

Genuine and Fake coin of Western Kshatrapas Ruler Rudrasimha III

This is a genuine coin of Mahakshatrapa

Rudrasimha III, son of Satyasimha as a
Mahakshatrapa (307-337 Saka Era / 385-415
AD). His coins, especially the ones bearing clear
dates, are rare to extremely rare.

This is a fake coin of Mahakshatrapa Rudrasimha

III. The coin is softly cast, just like the other fake
coins from this "issue". The date is not visible,
but the original issue of this style dates to 307-
309 Saka Era. The reverse is VERY soft, which is
not characteristic for the coins of this period.

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II Page 20

Numismatic Forgery

Genuine and Fake coin of Tipu Sultan.

This is Genuine coin of Tipu Sultan (20

November 1750 – 4 May 1799), who was a ruler
of the Kingdom of Mysore.

This is fake coin of Tipu Sultan casted from the

original coin. The casting can be seen in the
finishing of the coin. From rim we can make out
that it is a fake coin.

Image Courtesy : Purnanand Sanket

Fake Coin of East India Company.

This is a fake coin of East India Company. There

are lots of coins found with East India Company
on reverse and Indian Gods on the obverse
which are all fakes. East India Company has
never issued any coin with Indian Gods on them.
All these coins come with fancy dates like 1616,
1818, etc.

It can be clearly noticed that this coin is fake by

its appearance and the biggest mistake on it the
spelling of ANNA (for two anna) misprinted as
AANA.

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Numismatic Forgery

Tooled Two Annas Coin of George V King Emperor

This is a tooled 1911 Two Annas of George V

King Emperor. Here we can see the last one of
1911 has been tooled from some other number
as 1911 Two Anna is a rare coin.

Image Courtesy : Alfaaz Hussain

Fake 1840 One Rupee Coin of Victoria Queen

This is a fake coin of British India, 1940 Victoria

Queen. In this coin we can clearly see casting
bubbles if we see closely. Also the designs of the
obverse and reverse are not sharper as the real
coin.

Image Courtesy : Venkat Ram

Photographs of Fake Coin Minting Factory in China

The photographs in this gallery were taken inside a Chinese Coin Forgery operation. This forgery ring is
suspected of putting thousands of fake coins into the world and US Coin markets every month. These
coins are also being put into counterfeit PCGS and NGC coin holders, although they are most frequently
sold non slabbed. This photos are taken from Gullak Dated July 1, 2012.

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II Page 22

Numismatic Forgery

Assortment of Fake Dies Close up of Fake Silver Coin Dies

Fake Morgan Dollars Being Struck Chinese Workers Making Fake Coins

Another Coin Press Used By Forgers Fake Coin Being Struck

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II Page 23

Numismatic Forgery

Worker Applying Edge Lettering to Fake Coin Edge View of Fake Morgan Dollars

Fake Morgan Dollars Made in China Fake Indian Head and Large Cents

Fake Slabs from China Fake ancient Chinese Coins

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II Page 24

Numismatic Forgery

Fake Ingots and Bars Counterfeit money in Chine Storeroom

One of the Many Storerooms in the Chinese Counterfeiting Factory

Conclusion
 Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with
the intent to deceive.
 Numismatic forgery means duplicating or creating a copy of coins and circulating them with the
actual or officially minted coins.
 Numismatic Forgery is as old as coinage itself and is the world's second oldest profession.
 Indian money was started to be forged from the time Indians started using money. This is
noticed in the writings of many ancient Indian writers who have mentioned counterfeit money
like Kautilya.
 The extrinsic value of a coin is often many times the inherent or intrinsic value of the coin or
note or financial instrument, forgers reckon that for a small investment (for forgery and
circulation), they can get a huge extrinsic value.

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II Page 25

Numismatic Forgery

 Money is normally forged for using it as money, selling to numismatists and tourists, for political
reasons.
 Numismatics forgery is of three types Contemporary (the one done at the time the coin was at
circulation), Fantasies (the one done just to replicate the original one), Modern Forgeries (the
one done of ancient coins in recent times)
 There are various ways to mint forged coins like Casting, Electrotyping, Die Striking and Tooling.
 Forged coins can be detected by knowledge about the surface, knowledge about the genuine
coins, weight of the coins, edges of the coins, minting methods of the genuine coin, letterings
and symbols on the coins, etc.

Bibliography
 Shastri’s Introduction to Indian Coin Forgeries by Shastri JC Philip.
 Numismatic Forgery by Charles M. Larson.
 Kautilya’s Arthashastra PDF by R. Shamasastri.
 Calgary Coins website - [Link]
 Numismatics Forgery PPT by Bhavana Khanna.

Paper IV - Coinage of Medieval India up to A.D. 1200 – Part II Page 26