Romismatist

Bonatiele has a great website that I have used for early Frisian coinage: http://www.bonatiele.nl/FDETUK/medievalcoins.html He's got coinage labelled by century, and I find it interesting to look at the stylistic similarities and differences of the coins during this period. The major centres of Cologne, and elsewhere were often imitated by other regions. This site has been around for a while, and has several examples of most of the main coins from Dannenberg.

Yep, I got the other Alexandria example from the recent Dix Noonan auction. I guess I missed the recent CNG Restitutori Africae bids... will keep a look out for future specimens!

My typical spend has drifted higher on select coins as I've graduated to paying a bit more for better quality coins, and as the major gaps in my core collection close. I have a number of specialty collecting areas such as the Messapian coins of Calabria (modern-day Apulia) and the region of Ostfriesland in Germany (from 900 - 1800 AD), but I'm also plugging away at my emperor set, with a focus on historically interesting coins. That being said, I'm not immune to pulling the trigger on some quirky and opportunistic purchases - I recently purchased an 1805 medal of Napoleon Bonaparte commemorating some of his victories at what I thought was a pretty attractive price. I put myself in the $100-$199 range. With the recent crazy prices, I've tried to tone down my buying a bit and not get sucked into the current feeding frenzy.

Agree with @DonnaML - nice video! I learned a lot about the timeline for the issue as well as the iconography for each design. My most recent acquisition is an "Alexandria" denarius... I find that these seem to be the most elusive of the Province / City personifications, and it has taken me several years to find one in decent condition at a reasonable price. My example has an old Seaby provenance. The Restitutori Africae denarius is my next collecting goal (I haven't seen many of those come up in decent condition either), but I have the two other related issues with Hispania and Gallia.

Love the portrait on this coin, and still need to get an example of this emperor. Thanks for posting!

LOL - I'm loving this thread 🤣

An alternate theory would be that there are traces of corrosion around the hair and folds of clothing on the obverse, and around the figure and bird on the reverse. The uneven patina around the nose, cheek and neck and the adjacent field seems to indicate some corrosion there as well. This corrosion could have resulted in pushing out the metal from the surface into "growths" on the coin ( I have seen this happen to other coins as well). Intentional smoothing to remove these "outcroppings" could have led to the nose looking the way it does currently.

Sheesh... there's something you don't see every day! You would have thought that the jewelry store would have done its homework, but maybe they're just trying to make these images resonate more with the average Joe... It is tough as a numismatist to see these classic motifs degraded by such fluff and ignorant marketing though.

The fact that declared fakes and forgeries continue to circulate as such disturbs me. There are enough undeclared fakes being purchased every day on EBay by people with more money than common sense (or those that are simply too rushed or lazy to properly do their homework) that have me shaking my head. The fact that you can no longer warn these people or get fake sellers off EBay is troubling. EBay continues to be a real minefield for the beginner, but there are still often genuine bargains to be had for more experienced collectors, which keeps me coming back. However, I will admit that the increasing deceptiveness of fakes, especially those offered by this German dealer, have me increasingly scrutinizing the coins I buy on EBay. As a result, I'm increasingly drawn to reputable auction houses I am familiar with and have bought from despite their higher prices and buyers' fees. As with every hobby, the prevalence and deceptiveness of fakes continues to be a known risk. Some, like the Vitellius above, are easy to spot as fake from the mushy details and dubious style. Others, like the solidus, are more dangerous in my opinion (this is not my collecting area, but I admit that I would likely be fooled by it). We all need to continue to stay vigilant and remind each other of these risks, which is why I find threads like these so helpful. It is often easy to get drawn into an "incredible deal" in a moment of weakness, but we also need to remember that if it seems too good to be true, it usually is. Avoid greed or opportunity as a driving force in making your purchases, and stick to the areas you know well, or are researching thoroughly. Check the Forum Fakes site, do your homework beforehand, don't jump to conclusions and remain cautious.

This one sold by Lansky back in July 2020 is definitely a fake: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=3962&lot=38 There are only less than five of these coins known to exist, but compared to the genuine coins, the style of this one is way off. I notified the auction house as well as the Italian experts I knew who specialized in this coinage, but it was still sold for EUR 8000 to some poor soul. I remember the previous CoinTalk thread and participated in that one at the time too. The conversation got pretty heated, which was disappointing. However, the fact remains that this auction house didn't pull this coin which with a little research could be clearly shown to be a fake. Caveat emptor.

Nice coin, thanks for sharing!

Nice coin! I have the denarius version:

I've seen a bunch of these for sale recently - on EBay and maybe the Frank Robinson auctions too - that have test cuts. It seems that this coin type commonly has test cuts, so it's great that you were able to get a more pristine specimen. Congrats!

The coin is definitely tooled - the lines of the veil appear too crudely executed on that coin for sure. I'm also shocked it hammered at 800 CHF back in 2009 (before the recent craze driving prices bananas) - yikes! I am curious to see what price they will unload it this time around, if it is indeed in the process of being auctioned off.

Agree with all replies. I'm not comfortable with dealers or anyone else for that matter selling fakes... because they invariably end up being sold by someone unscrupulous down the road as the "real thing" and wind up in people's collections. If I see one fake in a seller's lot, I tend to avoid that seller completely... who's not to say that the other coins are fakes as well? I cringe when I see some of the cruder fakes being sold on EBay actually getting offers... for each one of those, someone is getting ripped off, sometimes to the tune of several hundred dollars. I do wish that EBay would take a stronger line on fakes - they used to, and I spent a lot of time in the past reporting fakes and actually getting communication in return from EBay, but currently it's more than a little overwhelming and I think that EBay has given up on this approach as well. Whether EBay sells a real or fake coin, they still make money in the end, and I guess that's all that matters to them. It just makes hunting for that bargain that much riskier these days, although I still believe that with some scrutiny, good deals on genuine coins are still around to be had.

LOL

Fellow Roman Republican enthusiasts, I came across this coin being sold on EBay as a forgery and thought it worth posting here. I would likely have accepted this as genuine based on the style and patina. How many of you can honestly say that you would have picked this out as a forgery? Caveat emptor...

I actually think it looks genuine, based on the wear, strike, style and patina. The notches on the edge are a red herring, and in my mind nothing to be concerned about.

Gotta love the coins of Akragas...

I have a couple that I posted here before that have seen travel in the Middle East or the Levant, given their chisel marks. These were something like $US 200 each, so I guess same ballpark as your coin... I bought a nicer one a bit earlier with less wear and no punch marks for EUR 355 (sorry for the size; can't seem to figure out how to make them smaller).

The bottom of the bust seems too sharp as well.

Agree with all the comments about the hair - it certainly looks very different to what Hadrian's hair usually looks like (it's usually wavier). I'm also not sure about the lack of wear on the hair on the obverse despite the toga folds below the neckline looking fairly worn. Usually you would expect more wear on the highest parts of the coin, typically around the hair and the ear. Style looks close, but a bit off to me as well. The moonlike pock marks on the reverse also seem suspicious to me.

I remember reading about the Frome Hoard dug up in the UK back in 2010 which actually had 5 solid silver denarii of Carausius: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/19/frome-hoard-2/?chrome=1&Exc_D_LessThanPoint002_p1=1

I agree it definitely looks like a fake to me, and the Severan dynasty isn't my area of expertise. I hope that they withdraw the coin from auction. I'm not sure the obverse portrait is a die match with the other fakes you posted but the reverse of the fourth image caught my eye as it's also used on a fake denarius of Faustina the Elder:

Hey @bcuda, Welcome (back)... I've missed your posts on Iberian and proto-money. I would agree with you and Ryro that the ring money is Celtic proto-money, and the curved center piece is aes formatum. A great assortment, congratulations!