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Old man at the flea market called my coin a fake. He was right.
Bought a 'Roman denarius' off a blanket vendor in Columbus for $40 last spring. Older guy next to me glanced at it and said, 'That's a tourist piece, son,' then showed me the mold line along the edge. I stuck it in a drawer for months, finally cleaned it with acetone and sure enough, the silver wash peeled off. Anyone else get burned by a cool-looking fake in the wild?
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the_xena1mo ago
Ha, that old guy probably saved you $40 worth of grief. Did you go back to the vendor and call them out, or just let it slide?
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the_xena29d ago
That's the thing though, fakes are everywhere now, not just at flea markets. I saw a guy at a garage sale selling "vintage" Levi's that were clearly made last year, and half the people walking by didn't even look twice. Once you know what to check for, you start noticing how much of our stuff is just a pretty story on top of something cheap. The mold line thing is a good trick to remember though, I've been checking my own change with a magnifying glass since I read your story, lol. It's like once you get burned once, you never trust a shiny thing the same way again.
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