Fake Alexander the Great Tetradrachms From Ben Hur

Fake Alexander the Great Tetradrachms from Ben Hur.

These are two examples of a modern fake of an Alexander the Great tetradrachm. They are from a group of 5 given to us at a coin show in Toronto so that we could document them here. The party that gave them to us told us that he bought them as fakes in 1960, in Egypt where they were being sold as "Ben Hur's" and are said to have been made by the thousands as props for the 1959 movie BEN HUR, to fill the chest of money Balthazar used to wager on Ben Hur winning the Chariot race. This would be typical Hollywood, as the date at which those events would have occurred, these types of coins would have been out of circulation by well over 100 years. We have not yet confirmed the Ben Hur origins, but have no reason to disbelieve the story of how the person who gave them to us said he got them.

WEIGHT:
average 12.88 grams (16.8 is normal)

SIZE:
average 25 mm (about the same as originals)

STYLE:
similar to orginals and probably cast from a genuine coin.

MANUFACTURE:
Probably sand or clay mold casting, and test positive for silver.

FIRST IMPRESSION:
Fair to poor

CHARACTERISTICS: This fake, when held in the hands, is not dangerous for several reasons. Because it is far too light yet aout the same size as originals, they are thinner than one would expect, and anyone familiar with these will know immediately something is wrong. There are many tiny casting bubbles and the edges are filed to remove the casting seem and no attempt has been made to hide the file marks. They have been artifically patinated.

RELATIVE DANGER

DEALER
Very low

COLLECTOR
EXPERIENCED
Very Low
NOVICE
Low to moderate

On an internet auction where one can only see the image, these could be slightly dangerous if a poor quality image is intentionally created. But with the coins in hand, especially as a group, they are not at all dangerous to anyone but a total novice.

On this image of the five together, it can be seen that all five are clearly cast from the same coin, and have identical outlines and major details, yet many of the finer details are different. These differences are due to the impression of the master into the sand or clay to make the molds picking up slightly different details from the master each time.