Julius Caesar and Octavian AE19 Genuine?

I recently won this unusual coin in a group of five coins from Numismatick Naumann. It is a puzzling piece - appears to be genuine but cannot find it - which makes it much more likely to be an imitation. It is clearly Julius Caesar and Octavian or Augustus. If it is genuine it would sell for much more than I paid so it cannot be genuine. But where was it made? 4.38 grams, 19mm. - Maybe Augustus and Agrippa? Any ideas?

 

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Not the same coin I don't think, but similar. Authentic? I believe so.


AUGUSTUS (OCTAVIAN)
AE Dupondius
OBVERSE: CAESAR DIVI F, bare head of Octavian right
REVERSE: DIVOS IVLIVS, wreathed head of Julius Caesar right
Gallic or Italian mint 38 BC
30mm; 17.90 g
CR535/v1, RPC620v

 

I would agree that the coin is authentic, but a contemporary imitation. Size looks smaller than these typically are (usually sestertius size). Most of the ones I'm aware of are in the 30 mm diameter range.

I found one in Southern Italy almost 40 years ago but the style is very different from @Bing 's. I will try and post it later this evening - have to take a pic.

The coin could also be a provincial. The style of the ethnic looks Sicilian or North African, but that my be a red herring...

 

Here's mine. Difficult to really see the faces, which were engraved very flat like @Bing 's example, but style is somewhat different. I know mine is a Southern Italian (Messapian) imitation because it was found there. Ethnic style is different from both the OP's coin and @Bing 's. The "IVLIVS" is pretty evident on the reverse.

Sorry for the crappy pictures.

Diameter is 28-30 mm, like @Bing 's example.

 

Thanks to all for the comments - the inscription is Nicea - but I cannot find anything from Nicea that looks remotely like this. The group of coins cost about $150 - this was one of about six. I cannot believe that a European auction company like Numismatik Naumann would sell a coin of Julius Caesar and Augustus in this condition even from a provincial mint as part of a group lot. If we accept that this is genuine what would any coin with portraits of Julius Caesar and Augustus that look like this go for? Quite a bit is my guess even if it is provincial.

I learned long ago that European auction houses generally do a good job of weeding out individual valuable coins in group lots - the one exception a year ago I did find a very rare small bronze coin from an Italian city in a group lot - that one coin more than paid for a group - but that was once in two decades. And it was an oddity - an arm holding a knife - I forget the city - took quite awhile to ID it. Someone from the city in Italy purchased it and boy was he really happy since the coin is extremely rare - but not in my collecting interest. I'll look it up and post the name of the city. Actually I just found a coin of Severus II in one of the NN group lots - condition, not so good. But it is only the second coin of his I have come across in 26 years.

Nevertheless I would love to know more about the coin I posted. Early in my collecting ancients, I helped sell a friend's collection of about 300 coins on ebay - he had inherited it from his uncle who allegedly brought the coins home from WW2. The collection included some realistic looking fakes. The answer from experienced collectors and sellers was that "that coin could not have been struck in antiquity." I feel the same way about this coin - it looks genuine, although would a provincial mint use thin lettering that was used in Rome and that is inconsistent with the other Nicean coin struck for Julius Caesar? Also the portrait style is of the Rome mint but the other coin of Julius Caesar that we know was struck in Nicea looks nothing like this. Unless I am wrong about the attribution but the lettering - I think NIKE etc. is of Nicea.

 

some recent auction prices for low grade Julius Caesar/ Augustus coins

 

Wonderful - puts to shame my own research.