1
Shastri’s Introduction To
Indian Coin Forgeries, 2
nd
Edition
Shastri JC Philip, PhD (Physics), DSc (Alt Medicine), ThD (Apologetics), PhD (Archeology and Numismatics)
Copyright: Creative Commons 2011 by Shastri Numismatics Academy
The rights of this book are released in Creative commons. This means that you are encouraged to distribute this book in any form, but with no alteration whatsoever. You are also welcome to distribute this book from your website or on CD/DVD or similar media.
Shastri Numismatics Academy: our aim is to popularize Indian Coins. Thus we produce a large number of Indian Coin Resources for free distribution. Please join this campaign by distributing this book free of cost. Also, do help us by sending photographs and information that we can use.
2
Chapter 1
Coin Forgeries: Introduction Money (coins, printed currency, electronic currency) is an object that using which one can buy things, services, and a host of other non material things. 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. Consider a 500 rupee printed Figure 1: Moulds that were used for making Roman Coin note for example. The actual forgeries worth or the intrinsic worth of that piece of paper is practically nothing. But since it has been issued by a ruling authority, or under the imprimatur of the ruling authority, it has a substantial buying power. Forging copies of these monetary units is common. While all kinds of money (electronic, printed, coined) are forged, in this book are concerned only with the forging of coins.
Forgery Of Indian Money Forgery of money has always existed in all countries. Since Indians started using money by around BC 1000, forgery started here almost 3000 years ago. Many ancient Indian writers have mentioned counterfeit money, which confirms that forgery did exist right from ancient times. In his Economics, Kautilya mentions it. In the chapter The Duties Of The Chamberlain, he 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. 3
•
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. 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: • •
Figure 2: The Great Indian Economiststrategist Kautilya, also known as Chanakya (a modern rendering of his picture)
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. 4
•
Similar steps may be taken against those who lower the quality of gold by mixing it with an alloy, or deal with counterfeit gold (suvarna = coin ?)
Forgery must have been a large-enough activity in ancient India for it to be mentioned in so many places in an important treatise on Economics. Coming to modern India, forgery of paper-currency is so frequent a crime that everyone is aware of one or more newspaper reports. Most of them also have read advertisement posted in newspapers by the government about how to detect fake notes. Forgery of coins takes place at a much smaller volume in current coins, mainly because the margin of profit is too low for such an activity. However, forgeries of slightly older Republic of Indian coins has started recently, aimed mostly at numismatic collectors. This is a criminal activity, but very few of them are booked because the small volume of counterfeits helps them to escape detection. These coins will be mentioned and illustrated in the appropriate section of this book.
Pic: A Highly enlarged picture of a recent forgery, being sold to coin-collectors because this coin sell in the market for as much as ten times the cost of production. Look at the inner rim at the bottom to see marks left from the imperfect casting-mould
5
Why Is Money Forged The buying power of monetary units, as mentioned before, is always more than their actual value. It is this buying power that attracts people to make counterfeits of money. To understand this more clearly, it would be good to look at the intrinsic and extrinsic value of monetary units. Intrinsic Value: The basic value of a substance, less than which its value would never go, can be called its intrinsic value. For example, if one takes a gold or silver coin and mutiliates or melts it out of shape. It will no longer remain a legal tender for financial exchange, but it still will get the owner the cost of the gold or silver which is substantial. This minimum value, which one gets for an entity, come what may, can be called its intrinsic value. This value resided in the nature of the material (metal value) and that is why it is called “intrinsic� to the substance. Obviously, 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. Extrinsic Value: In the barter system, people always exchange with each other items that they deem to be of equal or equivalent intrinsic value. However, when it comes to money for material, the intrinsic value of the coin or printed note does not match the intrinsic value of the material purchased. On the contrary, now it is the imprinted or attributed value of the financial instrument (coin or note) that is used to buy a material or serviced. This imprinted value if often many times the intrinsic value of the material out of which money is made. For example, in a five hundred or one thousand rupee note, the paper on which it is printed (though it costs substantially to produce it) is practically worthless when the intrinsic value of the paper or ink is considered. If the paper is burnt, one does not get anything in lieu of the ashes, whereas if a gold coin is melted one gets at least the market value of the gold. Thus in the case of printed notes, the value attributed to the note by the monetary authority might be thousands or even tens of thousands of the intrinsic value of the material out of which the financial instrument is made. This extra value does not come intrinsically, but rather is IMPOSED or ATTRIBUTED to it by the monetary authority. Thus it is called the extrinsic value of that financial instrument. The Motivation For Forgery: 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. This is another form of stealing where instead of taking away money from someone else, they simply manufacture extrinsic money (or worth) which they do not own. 6
Pic: Cast in a brass-like material (probably an alloy that is common in South India), this coin has been plated to make it look authentic. Look at the left edge (position 7 to 12) to see the unusually clear marks of casting. Look at position 3 for a small bulge from casting. This coin is being sold by many coin-sellers because there is a demand for it, the selling-price is much higher than cost of production, and because ignorance is very high among new coin collectors whose numbers are only going to increase.
7
Pic: Obverse and reverse of the coin shown earlier in a highly enlarged form
The biggest advantage, they reckon is that, unlike a thief, a forger does not have to put his life and limbs at risk in this act. The only danger, he reckons, comes if he is caught. However, since no housebreak is involved, since one does not have to watch against the bite of the watchdog, and since counterfeiting can be done in the privacy of one’s basement or attic, the counterfeiter reckons that compared to stealing this is a safe way to apprehend riches that do not honestly belong to him. Within the forgery of money one can see more than one motivating factor, and it would be good to see them separately.
Uses Of Forged Money While coin-collectors often think only of forged coins that are sold in coin-shops, forged money is used for more than one purpose and a brief overview of these would be useful. 1. Forgery For Using It As Money: This is by far the most common reason, and the most lucrative reason for forging financial instruments. This includes the forgery of coins, printed notes, and also electronic currency. Forged money has always existed during all periods of history and in all cultures. More so wherever precious metals (gold and silver) coins were part of the currency. The moment paper currency came into existence, forging them became more attractive because technological developments made it lucrative for people to counterfeit paper 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. 8
Still other 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. Today practically 60 to 80% of silver coins from Mugal and Princely States come with 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 most enduring historical evidence that counterfeiting of silver coins using a core of inferior metals was a common practice. Even today counterfeiting of larger denomination metallic coins does take place, but the volume of production is much lower than the volume at which modern paper currency is counterfeited. There is practically no circulation of large-denomination metallic coins in the markets these days, though they are still minted, and therefore it is practically impossible to conceal large-denomination coin counterfeits – which require a large flow of coins to hide among them. Counterfeiting lower denomination coins is not very attractive as the margin between the sales price and cost of production is much higher here. Counterfeiting of paper currency is much more profitable than counterfeiting modern coins first because the bulk of transaction even in ordinary life takes place via paper currency. Thus there is a flood of paper-currency among which the counterfeits can be hidden. Second, the margin of profit in paper-counterfeits is hundreds of times more than the margin of profit in coin counterfeits.
2. Forgery For Selling To Numismatists And Tourists: Coin collection and Numismatics has become a popular hobby worldwide in the last two centuries. While the average person is interested only in currency that is current, coin collectors and numismatists are interested both in what is current as well as in what is now defunct as currency. 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. What is more, since there is an ever-growing number of coin-collectors and
9
tourists, this is an ever-expanding market. What is more, the prices these coins command are often very high.
Pic: Forgery for selling to coin-collectors. The seller falsely claims that this half rupee coin, in addition to being minted in silver, was also minted in Zinc!!! He labels it as OMS or Off Metal Strike, which has become a technical Euphemism for milking coin collectors. The most interesting thing is that this seller was able to cheat many other sellers to buy several “OMS” coins from him! Thus a Mysore Tipu Sultan copper coin fabricated for less than Rs. 10 can easily fetch anywhere between Rs. 200 to 500. A silver coin set of Tipu with silver content of less than Rs. 2500 was recently offered on the market for Rs. 100,000 by a seller known to me. Since I knew the set was fake, he came down to Rs. 10,000. Finally he was able to sell it to someone for Rs. 25,000. Thus forging “ancient” coins is a highly profitable business for those who have sales outlets in tourist centers and also among coin-collectors. If the buyer knows the seller, then these coins are taken back if the buyer finds out that they are fakes. But this happens only rarely because most small collectors (who are responsible for the bulk of the buying) usually buy in coin exhibitions and never meet the seller again. Thus only big-time buyers who form long-term relations with sellers really get to return fakes to the sellers. Forgers who sell in numismatic markets also forge what is called Tokoins. These look like Tokens on one side and coins on the others. Since what are engraved on both the sides are 10
familiar scenes for collectors they simply buy them thinking that these are genuine monetary coins. Sellers usually describe them using ambiguous terms, adding to the false belief of the buyer that these real coins. On Ebay these Tokoins are often sold as genuine monetary coins and most new collectors do not realize that they are being cheated.
Pic: Some numismatic sellers have become so bold that they are selling forgeries of Republic of India coins by labeling them as Off Metal Strike coins. The above coin, make of lead, and executed in an imperfect manner, still gets buyers because most coin-collectors (maybe around 60%) do not even know that forgeries are being peddled. This guy was able to sell this coin to another coin-seller who was a newcomer and implicitly trusted the more senior coin-seller.
11
3. 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. The great Indian Economist-strategist Kautilya is one of the persons who centuries ago understood this precarious balance. Thus in his Economics he explains how one can destabilize the enemy kingdom with forged money, and also how to protect one’s own sovereign country from counterfeits. In Replenishment Of The Treasury in Arthashastra, Kautilya says:
• •
Or a spy, under the garb of a servant of a seditious person, may mix counterfeit coins with the wages (he has received from his master), and pave the way for his arrest. Or a spy, under the garb of a goldsmith, may undertake to do some work in the house of a seditious person, and gather in his employer's house such instruments as are necessary to manufacture counterfeit coins.
While the exact details and the delicate balance of currency, markets, and commodities became clear only in modern times, many ancient people knew about this. The fact that counterfeit money can destabilize the economy is now used by many countries when they forge the currency of enemy country and fill the markets of that country with this forged currency. While forgery for political reasons does not directly concern coin-collectors, they should still know about this channel of forgery. One does not know when this information will become handy in this hobby – such as in detecting fake currency in the collection of hobbyists.
Coin Forgery In India As mentioned earlier, coin-forgery (and later printed currency forgery) has always existed wherever official money has existed. India is no exception. It will be good to look at coin forgery in India based upon a classification as given below:
12
1. Forgery In Ancient Times: Coin forgery did exist in ancient India, and that is why Kautilya devotes considerable attention to this topic. He mentions forgery that is aimed at financial gain, and also the one that is aimed at political destabilizing of enemy nations. He also mentions the methods for discovering counterfeits, counterfeiters, and the punishment that is to be meted out to them. Some of the ancient counterfeits have, fortunately, survived and they give a glimpse to the modern student of numismatics. Counterfeiting of coins started in the ancient world because gold and silver coins were abundant, and the counterfeiter was able to use metals of less intrinsic value for counterfeiting the coins of gold and silver. The most massive, and disastrous, forgery of coins took place in India the 14th century when Muhammad bin Tughlaq (1325-1351) ruled. He was an eccentric, though brilliant, and he was one of the first to try a fiduciary system of money – a system which is somewhat similar to the extrinsic value that is imprinted on Indian paper currency. He based this experiment when he came across Chinese paper currency where the extrinsic value depends upon the trust that people place on the issuing authority. Thus he issued a range of coins in brass and copper with inscriptions such as 'Sealed as a tanka of fifty ganis'. He appealed people to trust the inflated value of this currency because it was issued by the ruler. However, this inflated value immediately tempted people to forge coins for the huge gains they were likely from the inflated value of these coins – made in metals that were easily available at that time. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of these coins were forged before the Emperor stopped this currency and bought all forged currency with coins of stable value. Nobody knows how many of these forgeries exist even today among the coins that are reckoned as his.
2. Forgery In Modern Times: While India was relatively free of coin-forgery till the 1990s, and though most of the forgeries were of paper currency, the fast-growing numismatic and tourist market has resulted in a boom for counterfeiters also. Coins of Tipu Sultan, both copper as well as silver, have always enjoyed great demand and they are being forged now with a vengeance in Karnataka. The bulk of them are sold to tourists, but gradually they are permeating into numismatic markets also. Another trick, that is highly successful, is to mint coins using lead and brass-like alloys and then selling them as they are or with silvery coating. These are labeled as OMS or Off Metal Strikes. The sellers assure buyers that while the original coin was minted in, say bronze, brass, or nickel, a few coins were also minted in “off metal” zinc and lead. They then claim that since the OMS were very few in numbers, they have become “rare” collectors item 13
now. Since the average collector does not have access to coin catalogs, he believes the seller and gets duped.
3. Tokoins That Are Sold As Numismatic Coins: Tokens with the pictures of gods and goddesses upon them have been fairly common in India. Pilgrims who visit temples often buy these tokens in bulk, get them blessed and anointed by the priest, and then distribute them as religious souvenirs to their friends. Almost all of them place these tokens in their private sanctuary for worshipping. These are commonly called Ramatankas and authentic Ramatankas that are available today have a 100 to 200 years of history. (Older Ramatankas made of gold and silver are also available in private collections, but seldom do they reach the market these days). The popularity of Ramatankas or Hindu Religious Tokens (a para numismatic item) and fully numismatic items motivated some people in Bombay to fabricate a cross between religious tokens and numismatic coins. Since these are neither Temple Tokens, nor coins, they are rightly labeled as Tokoins (token+coin). Tokoins available in the market these days have no numismatic history behind them as they come to the numismatic market straight from the Tokoin forgers.
Pic: An authentic Ramatanka or Hindu Religious Token which might have been produced in the 1800s (as judged from the style and also from the characteristics of the Nagari script) Used With Permission of www.indiannumismatics.com
14
Pic: A recent Tokoin in the market that is being sold as “East India Company Coin from 1616” which is a totally false information. This is a case Tokoin that goes from the fabricator to the seller without any connection either with EIC or with any temple
Tokoins need to be included in any introduction to Coin Forgery because a good number of them are sold these days (at least in the whole of South India) by numismatic sellers under the pretext that they are numismatic coins. On Ebay a large number of sellers based throughout India sell them with the claim that these are “old EIC coins” which is a totally false claim. Unwary coin collectors in South India by these Tokoin by the thousands every year and display them to other unwary collectors as “prized catches”.
4. Fantasy Coins, That Look Like Genuine Modern Indian Coins: Of late some sellers have started minting what have been labeled by some non Indian collectors as Fantasy Coins. In India they would be labeled as an attempt to forge coins similar to legal currency and would be arrested, thus their sales within India is not widespread yet. The picture of a sample set is reproduced below:
15
Picture: Tokens forged with so many similarities with Republic of India coins that (such as the denomination, the use of the word rupee or paise, year of minting, and the name of an Indian state) that possession and sales of these tokens are a criminal offense in India. Both the seller as well as the owner can be arrested as there is nothing on the tokens that indicates to an average person that these are NOT legally issued currency Some numismatists have labeled the above “coins” as Fantasy Coins. However, such euphemisms does not change the fact that selling/possessing these coins in India is a criminal offense. Some sellers publish a disclaimer on their site that these are “unofficial” issues. Such disclaimers (that are not on the coin itself) are of no legal value if anyone is discovered with these coins within the Republic of India Unless these “coins” contain a clear Indication on them that they are not Indian money (such as removal of the numbers and words related to Indian money) these coins come very close to definition of forgery of Indian money
16
Holding and selling these fantasy Coins that imitate current Republic of India coins to a level that can confuse people into thinking that they are monetary coins, and which have no indication on their body that they are not coins, is a criminal offense in India. Iindian Coincollectors should not take risk by buying them. What is more, they should also realize that these “coins� have no numismatic value whatsoever.
Summary Eternal vigilance is the cost to be paid if you do not wish to be duped! Do not fall for anything and everything that is sold in the numismatic market today. Adopt the following strategies if you plan to be seriously into coins: 1. Invest money in comprehensive catalogs 2. By only from sellers who are ready to take the coin back if a coin turns out to be fake 3. Keep reading
Photographs of forged coins are given at the end of this Ebook
17
Acknowledgements Many numismatists, coin-collectors, and coin sellers helped me to bring this project to fruition. I am grateful to all of them. These include (alphabetically first-name, except SACG) : •
• • • • •
• • •
South Asia Coins Group: SACG is the premier group of numismatists and coin-collectors who are devoted to the study and promotion of South Asian coins. As a member I am thankful to the Group for allowing me to air my views, questions, and queries. Girish Bambani: Helped me to obtain more than on ancient forgeries Jagdish Agarwal: Brought an important even from the history of forgery to my attention, and I added to in the 2nd edition of this book Lalitha Ramabadran: Helped me with many scans and a good amount of input Mrugendra Kuntala: Gave me suggestion about historical review and bibliography Raghunadh Raju: Has helped me through voluminous inputs to grow in this field. He also examined a large number of the fake coins that I showed him and was able to identify 49 fakes out of a set of 50 though some of these fakes had easily fooled coin-sellers Robert (Chesterfield, England): Helped with a strong critique to me evaluate my work Dr. Sunil Sood: Helped me with a good amount of input and has been tutoring me in numismatics Several coin-sellers who allowed me to examine and scan fake coins. They do not wish to be named for obvious reasons. Some were (obviously) reluctant to allow me to photograph the coins, and that is why I could not get better pictures of some coins that look very dark.
18
Forged Coins: Pictures Most Pictures Have Been Enlarged To Give A Clear View Of Defects
Tipu Sultan Silver Coin Forgeries
Pic: This is a set of four “silver� coins of Tipu Sultan. The remaining two coins, and additional information, is given on the next page
19
Forgery Of Tipu Sultan Silver Coins: Contd
Pic: The above four forgeries of Tipu Sultan have been made in Kernataka. The forgers are producing an endless number of sets that are purchased/sold mostly by coin-sellers who know that these are forged coins. The asking price can vary from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 10,000 per set. The lower price being for people like me who recognized the set as forgery. The average price on which Indian buyers settle is around Rs. 25,000, but the price at which foreign tourists settle the bargain is anybody’s guess. The coin looks like silver, but it is a mixture of silver and other metals and one can feel that if one has handled hundreds of silver coins. The sound they produce on being dropped on a solid surface is are different from that of normal silver coins. Originally these coins were offered in mint condition but, now that they have become smarter, it is offered in soiled condition as shown above.
20
The Off Metal Strike Fraud/Forgeries EIC/British India And Republic of India coins are forged in metals different from the metal in which the original coins were issue. These are then sold as OMS with the claim that the “government” had minted a small number of coins as OMS, making them very “rare” and worth a buy/investment by coin-enthusiasts
1940 Zinc Zinc OMS Fraud/Forgery
1940 Copper OMS Fraud/Forgery
More OMS frauds on the next pages: Those who peddle these “OMS” coins have successfully been able to fool other sellers, using the trust factor, let alone average customers who know nothing about the forgeries. Notice the word RARE on the label!
21
1942 Brass OMS Fraud/Forgery
1943 OMS Brass OMS Fraud/Forgery
1950 OMS One Anna Copper OMS Fraud/Forgery
22
1925 Two Anna Zinc OMS Fraud/Forgery
1925 Two Anna Zinc OMS Fraud/Forgery
1968 Two Anna White-metal OMS Fraud/Forgery (The original coin is in yellow-metal) 23
Bibliography
Forgery Of Indian Coins: Forgery of Indian coin is an old practice, but of late the volume and range of forgeries has increased much, mainly for selling them to numismatic hobbyist and tourist. The amount of publications is very less compared to the gravity of the problem. Some of the best articles and books are: • • •
SK Bose, Forged Coins Of North-east India: Highlights, Numismatic Digest, Vol. 23-24, 1999-2000 (A very useful, illustrated, paper on the increasing counterfeits in North East) John K. Cooley , Currency Wars: How Forged Money is the New Weapon of Mass Destruction, Skyhorse Publishing , 2008 Charles M. Larson , Numismatic Forgery, Zyrus Press, 2004 [A highly illustrated volume
that gives pictures and explains every step in a highly sophisticated forgery operation. Such techniques are not common in India, but can make an entry if counterfeiting is not exposed in time] •
• •
Michael Mitchiner, Forgeries Of Ancient Lead Coins Of Karnataka, Numismatic Digest, Vol. 20, 1996 (Illustrated paper on large-scale forgeries of Maharathi and other coins that fooled even some experts) Paul Craddock (Editor), Scientific Investigation of Copies, Fakes and Forgeries, ButterworthHeinemann, 2009 R. Shamasastri, Kautilya’s Arthashastra, PDF Copy available from http://www.IndianCoins.org (A highly readable translation. All students of Indology should definitely read this book)
Forgery Of Non Indian Coin: Coin forgery for selling to numismatic fraternity has been going all over the world at a high level. Some of the key books related to this are listed below: • •
Guillaume Beauvais, An Essay on the Means of Distinguishing Antique, from Counterfeit, Coins and Medals, BiblioLife, 2009 John W. Dannreuther, The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection, 2nd Edition, House of Collectibles, 2004
24
• •
D. Dimitrov, I. Prokopov, and B. Kolev , Modern Forgeries of Greek and Roman Coins, Sofia, 1997 David Hendin , Not Kosher: Forgeries of Ancient Jewish and Biblical Coins, Amphora, 2005
• • •
Ilya Prokopov, Coin Forgeries and Replicas, Provias Ltd, 2007 Wayne G. Sayles , Classical Deception: Counterfeits, Forgeries and Reproductions of Ancient Coins, Krause Publications, January 2001 Jeffrey Watson & Don Thomas, Heads I Win: The True Story of David Gee, Australia's Most Audacious Coin Forger, HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty, 1986
25
Please Join Our Educational Campaign! The aim of Shastri Numismatics Academy is to popularize Indian Coins. We invite every coin-lover to join our campaign. Coins are exciting to collect, but there is very little information on coins available that is free. We cannot blame the writers who price their books very high because somehow they need to recover some money that they invest to buy coins – and coins these days do cost an arm and a leg, and much more! The high price of books and catalogs only keeps newcomers away from this hobby because unless they become familiar with the excitement of coin-collection, they are not going to buy coins. But if the books are very expensive, they are not going to discover the field. Thus Shastri Numismatics Academy has been striving to make a substantial amount of information on Indian coins totally free, and we have started seeing success in this venture. This book is a testimony to another milestone that we have crossed in our mission. We now need your help to nurture this noble mission. Since no individual or Academy can have access to all the coins that it needs to photograph, and since no individual can write about all the coins that are there, we invite you to help us. You can help us by sending coin pictures. Contact us and we will guide you in how to scan them. Also, we will give you full credit for your pictures that we use. We also invite you to send articles or longer manuscripts to be cast into Ebooks for free distribution. We will give you full guidance in how to write about coins. We are also happy to receive articles that have been published elsewhere. Give them a second life by sending them to us for free distribution. Contact me at Shastri.JCPhilip@gmail.com
With Greetings
Shastri JC Philip
26