Cliché forgery
Encyclopedia
A cliché forgery is a type of counterfeit coin
(a subtype of fourrée
) produced using a genuine coin to impress a design into silver foil. The resulting obverse and reverse
impressions are then soldered together around a copper or other metal core. This type of forgery is particularly suitable to the manufacture of small, thin coins. Counterfeits of this type have been found both from Classical antiquity
and the Middle Ages
. Unlike most fourrée coins, the technique does not require a press and counterfeit dies in order to manufacture the forgeries.
The term is related to stereotype
. Since a single coin is used to make multiple counterfeits it is analogous to a stereotype or cliché printing plate. The term "cliché" is used in French numismatics works to refer to a (thin) electrotype
copy of a coin or medal with the sides displayed separately so that they can both be seen at once.
A cliché is also a pair of thin blanks struck in a press with a mated pair of dies. They are used as proof
impressions for the artist. Like many proofs, however, these have become desirable in themselves, and are acquired by museums specifically to allow the display of both sides of a coin or medal at once.
Coin counterfeiting
Coin counterfeiting of valuable antique coins is common; modern high-value coins are also counterfeited and circulated.Counterfeit antique coins are generally made to a very high standard so that they can deceive experts; this is not easy and many coins still stand out.-Circulating...
(a subtype of fourrée
Fourrée
A fourrée is a coin, most often a counterfeit, that is made from a base metal core that has been plated with a precious metal to look like its solid metal counter part. The term is normally applied to ancient silver plated coins such as the Roman denarius and Greek drachma, but the term is also...
) produced using a genuine coin to impress a design into silver foil. The resulting obverse and reverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
impressions are then soldered together around a copper or other metal core. This type of forgery is particularly suitable to the manufacture of small, thin coins. Counterfeits of this type have been found both from Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
and the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. Unlike most fourrée coins, the technique does not require a press and counterfeit dies in order to manufacture the forgeries.
The term is related to stereotype
Stereotype (printing)
In printing, a stereotype, also known as a cliché, stereoplate or simply a stereo, was originally a "solid plate or type-metal, cast from a papier-mâché or plaster mould taken from the surface of a forme of type" used for printing instead of the original...
. Since a single coin is used to make multiple counterfeits it is analogous to a stereotype or cliché printing plate. The term "cliché" is used in French numismatics works to refer to a (thin) electrotype
Electrotyping
Electrotyping is a chemical method for forming metal parts that exactly reproduce a model. The method was invented by Moritz von Jacobi in Russia in 1838, and was immediately adopted for applications in printing and several other fields...
copy of a coin or medal with the sides displayed separately so that they can both be seen at once.
A cliché is also a pair of thin blanks struck in a press with a mated pair of dies. They are used as proof
Artist's proof
An artist's proof is, at least in theory, an impression of a print taken in the printmaking process to see the current printing state of a plate while the plate is being worked on by the artist...
impressions for the artist. Like many proofs, however, these have become desirable in themselves, and are acquired by museums specifically to allow the display of both sides of a coin or medal at once.