Coins Historical Information References

Identification Number CWB-WM-01

Object:	Impression from dies engraved by Carl Wilhelm Becker struck in an alloy of tin and lead
Model:	Silver tetradrachm of Kleopatra Thea and Antiochos VIII (120s BC)1
Period:	The dies: between c. 1806 and 1830 AD; the impression: c. 1830s AD

Detail

Weight:	17.88 g
Diameter:	29 - 30 mm
Obverse:	Jugate busts of Kleopatra Thea, diademed and with stephane2 and veil, and Antiochos VIII, diademed, to right; dotted border
Reverse:	‘ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑΣ’ curving in two lines on right (“of Queen Kleopatra”), ‘ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ’ curving in two lines on left (“of King Antiochos”); eagle standing left on prow, palm branch under far wing; control mark in left field, quasi-Seleukid date ‘ΞΠΡ’ in right field; dotted border
Die axis:	180º
References:	Hill, Becker the Counterfeiter, 117
Notes:	(1)	The original parchment wrapper of this impression is preserved:
	(2)	These white metal impressions were sold after Becker’s death. Sir George F. Hill in his monograph Becker the Counterfeiter, pp. 36-37, writes: His family were left in very modest circumstances. ... As regards the dies, since they appeared fated to remain in the hands of the family, impressions to the number of 331, in a composition of tin and lead, were struck off and sold to collectors at the extremely modest price of 40 florins Rhenish (i.e. Convention gulden). This business was undertaken, and a printed list issued, by Martin Seidenstricker of Homburg, who married Becker’s widow. 3
	(3)	Tetradrachms of Kleopatra Thea and Antiochos VIII with their jugate busts on the obverse and with the eagle reverse were minted in three mints: Ake-Ptolemais, Askalon and Sidon.4 The same weight standard (Phoenician standard, c. 14.00 g) and the same obverse design were used by all three mints, but their reverse designs are somewhat different: Ake-Ptolemais: eagle standing on thunderbolt, either one control mark (the same as on this Becker’s coin) or two control marks in left field, Seleukid date in right field Askalon: eagle standing on thunderbolt, palm branch under far wing, ‘ΑΣ’ above dove in left field, control mark between eagle’s legs, Seleukid date in right field Sidon: eagle standing on prow, palm branch under far wing, Seleukid date above aphlaston in left field, ‘ΣΙΔΩ’ above ‘ΙΕΡ’ above control mark in right field, control mark between eagle’s legs Thus the reverse of this Becker’s coin is a combination of reverse designs used by Ake-Ptolemais mint and by Sidon mint. Moreover, the date ΞΠΡ is non-compatible with the numeral system which was used on Seleukid coins. It seems that Becker (or his assistant W. Zindel) mistook Ζ for Ξ, so that the correct date on his original model was probably ΖΠΡ (year 187 of the Seleukid Era, i.e. 126/5 BC).5

Identification Number CWB-WM-02

Object:	Impression from dies engraved by Carl Wilhelm Becker struck in an alloy of tin and lead
Model:	Silver tetradrachm of Antiochos IV (Antioch mint, c. 166 BC);6 see, e.g., Le Rider, Antioche, pp. 217-218, Nos. 552-561; Houghton, CSE, 110-111; Newell, SMA, 64
Period:	The dies: between c. 1806 and 1830 AD; the impression: c. 1830s AD

Detail

Weight:	20.63 g
Diameter:	28 - 29 mm
Obverse:	Laureate head of Apollo right; fillet border
Reverse:	‘[Β]ΑΣΙΛΕΩ[Σ] ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ’ right, ‘ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ’ left (“of King Antiochos, God Manifest, Bringer of Victory”); robed Apollo standing right, holding patera in right hand and kithara in left arm
Die axis:	180º
References:	Hill, Becker the Counterfeiter, 109
Notes:	(1)	The original parchment wrapper of this impression is preserved:
	(2)	As for the origin of these white metal impressions, see note (2) following the description of the previous coin CWB-WM-01.

Historical Information

Carl Wilhelm Becker was born on June 28, 17727 and died on April 11, 18308. As a youth he wanted to become a sculptor, but his father insisted that he should become a vintner like himself.9 Becker was in the wine business several years and thereafter he worked as a draper for the next several years, but from c. 1806 he started to make and sell copies of (mostly ancient) coins.10 In addition to his copies, he also sold genuine coins and antiques. He sold his reproductions either directly or through agents, sometimes as genuine coins and sometimes openly as his copies. Over the years many European museums and collectors acquired at least one Becker’s forgery. The first information about his forgeries was published in 1825 and 1826 by an Italian numismatist Domenico Sestini.11 Despite his great talent as a die engraver, he never achieved wealth and he faced financial difficulties in the last years of his life.

Becker worked freehand, that is he engraved dies without the use of casts or any mechanical transfer methods. When he could not obtain an original to work from, he copied a cast in sulphur or plaster (it is possible that sometimes he also worked from drawings or engravings). He used fresh blanks and he also struck over low-grade or common genuine ancient coins. The striking was done with a sledge-hammer, not with a press. Since 1826, a seal-engraver W. Zindel assisted him with the engraving of dies because his sight had begun to weaken.

Hill, Becker the Counterfeiter, pp. 38-44, analyses the question whether Becker should be considered a forger or an artist producing reproductions of coins, and he concludes:

I take it that he was, like most of us, a mixture of good and evil; that he began by imitating coins for the fun of the thing, – and good fun indeed it must have been to take in some people, such as that Baron at Munich 12 ; that other pieces he imitated because he liked them, – and this may account for some of the common coins in his series; that sometimes he found it amusing to invent something more or less new, such as he supposed the ancients might have made if they had only thought of it; that he was occasionally unable to resist the temptation, when it seemed safe, of allowing his productions to pass for genuine; and finally that he was quite ready to reform, if he could be assured of getting a comfortable sum for what he had made 13 .

But whatever good there may have been in the man is now forgotten; his coins remain: «Men’s evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water» 14 .

This brief information is based on Hill’s monograph Becker the Counterfeiter. See also Sayles, Classical Deception: Counterfeits, Forgeries and Reproductions of Ancient Coins, pp. 37-39.

References:

Hill, Sir George F.:Becker the Counterfeiter. Chicago, 1979 (Obol International reprint of the London 1924 original edition).

Houghton, Arthur:Coins of the Seleucid Empire from the Collection of Arthur Houghton. The American Numismatic Society, New York, 1983. (abbr. CSE)

Houghton, Arthur; Spaer, Arnold (with the assistance of Catharine Lorber):Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Israel I. The Arnold Spaer Collection of Seleucid Coins. Italo Vecchi Ltd., London, 1998. (abbr. SNG Spaer)

Le Rider, Georges:Antioche de Syrie sous les Séleucides. Corpus des monnaies d’or et d’argent. Vol. 1: De Séleucos I à Antiochos V, c. 300-161. Institut de France, Paris, 1999. (abbr. Antioche)

Newell, Edward T.:Late Seleucid Mints in Ake-Ptolemais and Damascus. The American Numismatic Society, Numismatic Notes and Monographs No. 84, New York, 1939. (abbr. LSM)

Newell, Edward T.:The Seleucid Mint of Antioch. Chicago, 1978 (Obol International reprint of the New York 1918 original edition). (abbr. SMA)

Sayles, Wayne G.:Classical Deception: Counterfeits, Forgeries and Reproductions of Ancient Coins. Krause Publications, Iola (Wisconsin), 2001.