Silver Plated ½ Unit Three Crescents Contemporary Counterfeit

Contemporary counterfeits of Herodian small bronzes are well documented but rarely cataloged with precision. This piece — silver-plated to pass at face value — dates to the reign of Herod Archelaus or the early Roman prefect period, when the Jewish economy ran on fractional bronzes and profit margins on counterfeiting even the smallest denominations were viable. The plating technique, applying a thin silver wash over a bronze core, was practiced across the eastern Mediterranean and required no sophisticated equipment.