Author Archives: Bret Evans

Counterfeit fake coins and notes are part of the landscape of collecting. We often use the term synonymously, but that may not always be the case. In some cases fake coins are made to fool the public, in other cases a fake rarity is created to fool a collector and in some cases legitimate coins are defaced or altered to appear to be more valuable. In all of those cases someone is basically attempting to cheat an unsuspecting buyer. None of this is new. There were counterfeiters back in the days of antiquity, punching out fake denarii and solidii. Back in the renaissance, when the first collectors were filling the first coin cabinets, I suspect that some early tradesmen saw a chance to turn a quick buck. It’s just that for most of our history, these types of crooks have preferred to remain out of scrutiny. Continue reading →

Once a year, for as long as I can remember, Krause Publications holds the Coin of the Year (COTY) competition. I wish it were Canadian Coin News that hosted the competition, but I’m afraid they had the idea long before I came on the scene. I content myself by remembering that Krause was the first owner of CCN, so it’s still sort of in the family. In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I am on the internatinal panel of judges for the COTY. I got the job when Jerry Remick, a numismatic expert and CCN columnist, died. Since then I have done my best to honour Jerry by voting the way he would have. By that I mean by ignoring national pride and voting for the coins that are the best. Continue reading →

As any collector will tell you, coins and medals are not just something to be collected, they are cultural artifacts. While for many of us that is a huge part of the appeal of numismatics, it has a negative side as well. Many nations have determined that coins are part of their cultural patrimony and shouldn’t be exported. Now, to some extent that makes sense, particularly in the case of nations such as Egypt and Greece, which were plundered for the better part of a century by artefact hunters, often working for prestigious museums. Various nations have also found allies in the archeological community, which has long been complaining that grave robbers searching out items for collectors often destroy historical information that can never be recovered. No thinking person can support grave robbery, or theft of any sort. Continue reading →