40 J. Gibbs — Imitation Greek Coins. [Feb., 



I think it right to bring to the Society's notice the great extent to which 

 forgeries or imitations of coins are now being placed in circulation. I 

 especially allude to imitations of coins of the Oxus finds and of other 

 Greek varieties. General Cunningham has brought to notice one of what 

 are usually known as the Punjab forgeries, a coin of Andragoras (A. S. 

 B. Proceedings, July 1880). The original was, I believe, among the early 

 Oxus finds, and is now in the British Museum. General Cunningham 

 has another, and I believe there is a third somewhere at home. The 

 makers of these imitations are supposed to reside not 50 miles from Rawal 

 Pindi, and are great adepts at the art. The earliest imitations — apparently 

 not casts, but struck coins — were, I believe, the gold Andragoras, and the 

 gold Antiochus with the horned horse's head reverse. A want of knowledge 

 of Greek has, however, led the die-makers to proclaim the falsity of their 

 wares to any careful observer. The earlist specimen, now in the British 

 Museum, reads ANAPArOP. General Cunningham's reads D ArOPOY 

 and it was between these two coins that the proper name of the king 

 was made out. The imitators had casts of the latter coin, but managed 

 to make their Rev die strike the gold more fairly, and the consequence is 

 that the loop of the P being read as an and the A as a A the name 

 OArOPOY is invented ! by which these forgeries may be known. But 

 another coin has been imitated, and I believe a good many specimens have 

 been sold, some at very high prices ; this is the unique coin of ' Phahaspes ' 

 noticed in Yol. L of the Journal, p. 171, in General Cunningham's 

 paper on the last Oxus find. The head of the king is beautifully imi- 

 tated. I compared one, which I purchased last year for the purpose, with 

 the original in the British Museum, and neither I nor any of the Curators 

 there could find any difference between the obverses, but the Quadriga on 

 the reverse betrayed the imitation. (A notice of the originals of these 

 coins will also be found illustrated in Vol. XIX of the Numismatic 

 Chronicle, pi. I.) 



The other day some 2 or 3 dozen gold coins were submitted to me for 

 inspection, and proved to be nearly all imitations ; amongst them were 

 specimens of both the above mentioned. I sent them over to Major 

 Prideaux, whose name is well known in the numismatic world, who, on 

 examining more carefully than I did the reverses of the 3 forgeries of the 

 Andragoras type, found the coiner had by mistake struck one with the 

 Quadriga and Aramaic inscription of the Phahaspes coin instead of the 

 Quadriga and Greek inscription of the Andragoras ! — not only affording 

 an additional proof of the falsity of both, but proving that both imitations 

 were made in the same manufactory. 



As regards the Antiochus of which I produce a specimen, to any one 

 who is familiar with true Greek work, the bust would at once reveal its own 



