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Fakes that turned out to be real, and worth a fortune

Multimillion-dollar treasures that were outed as genuine
The $5 Liberty Half Eagle coin
The $5 Liberty Half Eagle coin
Constable's early The Hay Wain
Constable's early The Hay Wain
Constable's early The Hay Wain
The Jesse James photo
The Jesse James photo
The Jesse James photo
Rodin's bust of Napoleon
Rodin's bust of Napoleon
Rodin's bust of Napoleon
Raphael's A Portrait of a Young Woman
Raphael's A Portrait of a Young Woman
Raphael's A Portrait of a Young Woman
The Rembrandt self-portrait
The Rembrandt self-portrait
The Rembrandt self-portrait
Van Gogh's Sunset at Montmajour
Van Gogh's Sunset at Montmajour
Van Gogh's Sunset at Montmajour
The trio of Turners
The trio of Turners
The trio of Turners
Monet's A Haystack in the Evening Sun
Monet's A Haystack in the Evening Sun
Monet's A Haystack in the Evening Sun
Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi
Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi
Da Vinci's Salvator Mundi
Henry Moore's watercolour
Henry Moore's watercolour
Madonna of the Pomegranate
Madonna of the Pomegranate
Anglo-Saxon coin
Anglo-Saxon coin
Queen Victoria's portrait
Queen Victoria's portrait
19th-century 'tenner' diamond
19th-century 'tenner' diamond
15th-century rare Angel gold coin
15th-century rare Angel gold coin
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Carl Court/Getty

Multimillion-dollar treasures that were outed as genuine

In April 2018 an anonymous collector from New England was poised to become a multimillionaire after a rare gold coin he thought was fake turned out to be the real deal. But the lucky numismatics enthusiast isn't the only collector to have discovered that a supposed copy was actually bona fide. We take a look at some alleged imitations that were eventually declared genuine.

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Daniel Coughlin

04 April 2019

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