Another Caracalla Denarius

I saw this a few weeks ago and I couldn't pass it up:

Caracalla Denarius
OBV: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG, laureate head right
REV: PONTIF TR P XII COS III, Virtus standing half-right with foot on helmet, spear & parazonium
Struck at Rome, 209 AD
2.6g, 18mm
RIC 112

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I hope others come on later and jump all over me for being paranoid, but that coin makes me nervous. Style, surfaces, everything is making me uncomfortable.

I do hope I am wrong though.

 

Sorry, not a fan of it either, even if its real. Looks fake though.

 

Paranoid maybe, but not to be confused with vigilance. I think the coin is authentic. I think it was well circulated, deposited,found, cleaned harshly, and retoned. I have been wrong in the past but I am fairly certain with this one.

 

I could not find a fake match in the reports. So, again I think it legit.

 

I looked too and found nothing. Even if its real its too rough for my liking. Be good trade bait or to sell to a newb.

 

Could it be real, yeah. But I will put it this way, I have seen maybe 100 authentic coins with that "look", and maybe 5,000 fakes with the same look. I am not a Caracalla expert, (heck I do not even collect Romans), so basically commenting on the style, toning, and surfaces.

Not to demean us good folks who have posted, (including myself), but I would love to hear what Bill or Doug or some other might believe as well.

I hope you are not taking any offense to any of this or my opinion Bing.

 

I don't like it either Bing...


Something seems wrong.


Just my opinion, would really like to hear Doug's or Ardy's opinion on this piece.

 

I got this coin a while back and have hesitated posting it for the same reasons everyone has mentioned. But, like Anoob, I cannot find a match in the fake databases. The price was low probably for the same reasoning. I decided to take a chance on it. If it proves out to be a fake, I can afford to keep it for educational purposes. BTW, I never take offense at my fellow collectors for speaking their mind. Besides, if it is proven fake, I would rather know.

 

Doesn't look right to me either. I'm open to it being real though, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

 

Another tick against it is the weight. 2.6g seems kinda light for him. But my Sev A. VICTORIA AVGVSTI reverse is 2.2g but its pretty porous.

 

Well Curtis C said it looks like a cast.

 

I dunno. Curtis' response was not very definitive:

However, I believe with all the comments here and at Forum that this coin is more than likely a fake. The weight is light and the style is soft. As stevex6 is fond of quoting: "where there is doubt, there is no doubt". I have had the coin for a few weeks now, but I will see if I can get a refund through Paypal. If not, it's another lesson learned. Thanls all.

 

Btw, to throw a bone to Anoob, this look is a little more common on authentic coins from central asia/persia than it is from roman/greek coins. Something about the soil conditions that lead to overall surface softness look from coins dug there it appears. Of authentic coins that look like this, most have been parthian/indo greek, etc. Such softness of strike, surfaces, and black toning is usually a sign of cast coinage for all but central asian coins. Even for central asian I look long and hard, (and ask opinions), before accepting it.

Roman silver should look like Bing's fine avatar pic.

 

Thanks for the kind comment. I needed that.

 

Sorry to be in so late but I agree I don't like the coin but am not as certain it is fake or just abused. Either way, I'd rather not own it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hnhvWKMqm4

 

Lol, relax brother. Remember that stupid Vahran II sassanid I posted? Any ancient collector claiming he has never bought a fake probably either buys really expensive coins from high end sellers or is kidding himself. To us lower end collectors its a hobby hazard we all get burned by.

We all have been there. The important point is we study this coin and learn from it. That is the best we can hope for, we educate ourselves to help minimize the risks.

 

By the way, Bing => DVC Collector (Kurt Story) gets the credit for the Deniro quote (he used it on me when I bought my imitative Attic Owl)

 

Yeah, well, I give you both credit. I love the quote (and the movie's not bad)