LOOSE CHANGE: OCTOBER 17, 2021

   

THE SOUTHERN SHORE of the Black Sea is a narrow strip of fertile land–famed for excellent hazelnuts–between the sea and the rugged Anatolian plateau. The coastal fortress of Trebizond (Trapezus to the ancient Greeks and Romans, now Trabzon, Turkey) was the capital of a small, but remarkably durable medieval empire, remembered as the last independent outpost of Byzantine Civilization. We know something about the coinage of this lost empire thanks to diligent research by a handful of scholars and collectors during the past century, notably the great British numismatist Simon Bendall (1937-2019).

To read the complete article, see:
CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: The Coinage of Trebizond (https://coinweek.com/ancient-coins/coinweek-ancient-coin-series-the-coinage-of-trebizond/)

For decades customers interested in all manner of rarities — ancient coins, sarcophagus masks, prehistoric fossils — went to Mehrdad Sadigh's gallery near the Empire State Building in Manhattan. The items came with certificates of authenticity, and the gallery's website was filled with accolades from customers who appreciated the gracious touch he brought to his business.

Everything I have acquired from you over the years has more than exceeded my expectations, one testimonial read.

But Mr. Sadigh acknowledged Tuesday during a plea hearing that much about his antiquities business was an elaborate scam.

Over the course of three decades I have sold thousands of fraudulent antiquities to countless unsuspecting collectors, he said, according to the statement he read in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, adding, I can only say that I was driven by financial greed.

Many of the objects he was selling were not centuries-old artifacts unearthed overseas and imported to New York, investigators had said, but were, rather, phony specimens, mass-produced in a warren of offices just behind his showroom.

Mr. Sadigh pleaded guilty to seven felony counts that included charges of forgery and grand larceny.

To read the complete article, see:
Antiquities Dealer Admits Mass-Producing Fakes He Sold for Years (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/13/arts/design/fake-antiquities-mehrdad-sadigh.html)

A silver enthusiast left his mark on Canadian coinage, leading to rarities in the silver dollar series.

The JOP countermarked silver dollars produced by Joseph Oliva Patenaude have become one of the most celebrated and collectable instances of modified Canadian coins today.

Patenaude was an optometrist and jeweler, born in Quebec in 1871 and educated in Chicago. After brief stops in Alaska and Spokane, he settled in Nelson, British Columbia, becoming a well-respected member of the community. He died in 1956 at the age of 85.

To read the complete article, see:
Canadian silver dollars with an optometrist's counterstamp (https://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/canadian-silver-dollars-with-an-optometrist-s-counterstamp)

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