Is this a Pecunem coin? it looks like one of their photographs. Regardless if it is authentic or not, it appears to be struck, with splay lines on several points of interest (most noticeable just right of the laureate and above Salus' head). If authentic, heavy tooling around (C)"OS II PP?" The style seems off; specifically the nose and eye. It appears to have an Egyptian/Persian feel, IMO; although I know (if authentic) it's supposed to have been struck in Rome. Comparatively, I would say it is not authentic. Let the crowd of other "L AVREL COMMODVS AVG" Commodus with Salus Seated Denarii be your judge. Note: I stopped bidding in Pecunem auctions last year. They had several obvious forgeries in nearly every auction; with a common fabric amongst most of those forgeries. The Fabric on OP coin matches, unfortunately. -Michael
Well, if this one is fake it fools me. I can see what appears to be tooling as identified by iamtiberius, but to me it's not that obvious or egregious.
If fake, it's definitely a good one. Everything seems ok except the face. The "fabric" could just be Pecunem's scans that gives this look to a lot of their coins. Edit: It is a Pecunem coin; found it on their site.
I do not like it at all. There are several styles of Commodus denarii which strike me as believable but this one just does not seem in the spirit of any or even barbarous in the way way I believe the contemporary barbarous coins should look. Tooled and real or modern fake both strike me as possible. I want it either way (uglier than acceptable). However, I am still fond of my Commodus which is quite a bit more unusual. I believe it is ancient but certainly unofficial. I could be wrong as I prove with regularity.
He kind of looks a little Chinese to me. China has probably minted more denarii and US silver dollars than there are authentic samples in the wild.
Can you show images of any fake ancients documented to be Chinese. We often see Bulgarian school products but I have no concept of what makes a fake Chinese as opposed to just a fake.
I'm not actually suggesting that coin was made in China, just simply that the face looks a little Asian to me, so I suggested an Asian origin. Whatever the actual origin, it definitely doesn't look ancient to me.
I would have tons of fake ancient Chinese coins I could show you Doug, but I imagine you are thinking of only fake WESTERN ancient coins.
It just looks so off to me that I have to go with Doug's conclusion. But as Bing notes, it does resemble @iamtiberius third coin....
I didnt know it was a coin on offer from a current auction. A customer sent me the photo for an opinion. I gave it, which he didnt like, so I said I would post it here for other opinions. So, my assessment? I think it is modern. While the style is similar in crude style to those of Commodus, one sees that style specifically on Severan Denarii from the Balkan area. While the 'flow' lines lend it some credibility, on closer inspection they are the result of a coin being presses rather than struck. So, no, I dont like it.
