D N IVSTINI - ANVS P P AVG

Justinian I facing, cuirassed and wearing the pendilia. Holding a cross on globe with the right hand and a shield decorated with a rider, with the left hand. In the field on the right, a cross.

ANNO – XII / M

The letter M with on its left the word year and on its right the number (year 12) below the M, the officina letter and still below, the mint mark. Above the M, a cross

Common fake, molded. Many copies sold on the internet. This fake is of poor quality and easy to recognize. However, some copies have deceived sales houses. Indeed, some copies have been worked, patinated... to give them an old appearance much more misleading than most copies. In addition, I saw a copy auctioned in a auction house, which was so misleading that the molded appearance was gone and the coin seemed to have been struck. I spotted the same form of blank, the same surplus of metal on the obverse at 3 o'clock near the edge. And the same defect on the reverse at 2 o'clock in the beading. So it's a fake modern like this one.

Dr. Ilya Prokopov, has already referenced this coin for a long time and explains that this fake is molded and appears regularly on the internet. He also noted the points I explain above, on the shape of the blank which is always the same, the same centering and the same defects. Link to his website: http://ilyaprokopov.com/, and below several links on his research, allowing you to see the main aspects given to these coins, work on patina, fake wear... Because these coins often have different aspects. They are known and therefore, counterfeiters change regularly their aspect, to deceive more easily. Beware, it is probably not the people who have molded this coin which then work on patina, but the people recovering these coins, and even, those who discovered that this coin is fake and wishing to resell it by recovering the amount invested. Always look at the shape of the blank first. The coins were struck by hand in antiquity and the preparation of the blanks, too, informs us that it is impossible to have two perfectly similar coins in the shape of the blank and the centering of the coin.

Link to the different copies given by Dr. Ilya Prokopov:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=196

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=197

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=205

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=206

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=207

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=8&pos=208