This coin is 30 mm and weighs 9 grams. I checked every picture on Wildwinds and I found similar coins, but not the same. Something is off, but I can't put my finger on it.
A fake, I'm afraid. We had another example of these show up in a thread just last month: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/casting-seam.281468/
It certainly appears to be a replica as everyone states....it's one of the most popular (and expensive) motif types of the Flavians. Sorry.
I get that it "looks " wrong. I thought that at first glance, but on the weight issue, I did notice several Vespasian AS's that weighed in the 9 gram range, on Wildwinds. On another note, the lettering seemed to small to me. Was that an indicator for you all? And last, the surface marks look porous, maybe from casting, but I've also seen corrosion that looked somewhat like that. What do you all think?
If you click on the link provided by Zumbly you'll see the reasons why we all are sure it is a fake....'casting bubbles', lack of sharpness etc etc... and you'll almost certainly see a casting seam on the edge...
Reverse style is the first give away, it does not have the right look in terms of design elements to be authentic. This is not a left brain, bullet point of what's wrong, diagnosis, it's a right brain subjective does not look right. Once you have looked at enough of these coins you will begin to understand when a design does not look correct. The other give away is the mushiness of the details, which is a dead give away that it's cast. Prior to collecting ancients I collected large cents by variety. I remember reading an essay by Breen about having to use both right brain and left brain pattern recognition for variety attribution. You can save a lot of time checking date position, and leaf position, and LIBERTY to hair position, if you begin your attribution with a right brain recognition of the style first to narrow down the possible varieties. It really changed my idea about the process of attribution, prior to that I was all left brain detail oriented, and often completely missed the stylistic differences.
Thank you for the analysis... I have heard this term "mushiness of the details" a few times. I THINK I understand it. But to help me have clarity: Would you be saying that there is more radial curvature (roundness) in the "corners" of the design. And I mean in any of the 3 dimension corners (left, right, up down, etc.) of the design. Hey, sorry, but I work in a lot of product design with my IE's... Thanks for any help...
A problem we have here looking at photos is it is hard to tell thickness of coins. Many Flavian asses are pretty large diameter but thin compared to sestertii which are both larger and thicker. A coin with sestertius diameter and as weight would be so thin that most people would be able to pull it out of a bag blindfolded as having something wrong. There is probably no ancient type more often faked than the Judaea Capta sestertii. If you have any doubts whatsoever about a Capta coin, assume it is fake. The odds are with you. If you want a real one, pay someone not just a little skilled on the matter. You can trust us here that the coin is a fake but that does not work the other way. Experts have been making fakes for hundreds of years. If I say you should buy one of these based only on a photo, ignore me. You can tell me all about this one from a couple years ago --- Right? Would you have it in your collection? I sure would. http://www.auctiones.ch/browse.html?auction=30&lot=5121
Thanks to all of you. I wasn't buying this coin. Just identifying it for a friend who got it by accident. In any case I enjoyed all of your answers. Thanks again.
And just for the record, I did know enough to check for a cast line, before I posted this thread....Personal pride dictates that I clear that up
