Original Paper Investigation of Contemporary Forgeries of Ancient Silver Coins

Abstract. Four ancient Roman silver coins from about 200 BC to 200 AD, mainly contemporary forg-eries, were investigated in order to deduce the meth-ods and materials used in the production of the forged coins. Special attention was devoted to a Denar from the Roman Republic, a C. Mamilius Limetanus denar-ius serratus (approx. 82 BC), because an original coin (pure silver) as well as a forgery were available. These coins both show serrated edges, i.e. notches all around with irregular spacing. A combination of microbeam analytical techniques was applied: Scan-ning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Probe Micro Analysis (EPMA) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). Some of the counterfeits consist of a base metal core plated with silver. Th