古罗马钱币的伪造者贝克尔

贝克尔伪造钱币，柏林，1843,171号；原型为罗马帝国钱币目录（RIC），第三卷，图拉真，第301页，759号（马缇蒂娅）及第三卷，哈德良，第343页，29号（普罗提娅）

重量/直径：3.93克/20.79毫米

两位优雅端庄的皇室女眷共同出现于一枚钱币——这是何等的罕见！此二人分别是图拉真皇帝（98-117年在位）的侄女、乌皮娅•马西阿尼娅（哈德良皇帝的岳母）之女萨罗尼娅•马缇蒂娅，以及图拉真皇帝之妻庞培娅·普罗缇娜。

令人遗憾的是，这枚钱币在古代史上从未真正存在过。这枚钱币出自德国商人、钱币学家、钱币伪造者卡尔·威尔海姆·贝克尔（1772-1830）之手。此人在生前时便因其伪造古代（亦包括现代）钱币之举而声名鹊起。

由于当时并未建立起完备的钱币收藏档案，贝克尔的伪造钱币甚至被收藏家们奉为圭臬，而前者则利用时人好古之风大发横财。如今，这些精雕细琢、做工精良的伪造钱币在竞拍中仍能获得高价。

Historical Background

What two exquisite imperial women – on one coin! Salonina Matidia, the niece of the emperor Trajan (reg. 98-117AD), daughter of Trajan’s sister Ulpia Marciana, and mother-in-law of the later emperor Hadrian (reg. 117-138) together with Pompeia Plotina, 

It is only too bad that this coin was never minted in this way in ancient times. numismatist and forger Karl Wilhelm Becker (1772-1830). He was already famous during his lifetime for his falsifications, mainly of ancient coins but also from other periods. But his coins were infamously received by collectors, in a time when modern systematic corpora where still not existing, and one could make big business with coins due to the enthusiasm for (ancient) history. 

(Sven Günther)