Please posto your Otho and opinion

Otho has such an intriguing story as I understand it: toupee wearing, social climbing, Nero lackey, who falls bassackward into being ruler of one of, if not, the greatest empires time will ever know. To show a total change of character (or art least the character that history has us know him for), and plot twist, by killing himself to avoid further bloodshed and another civil war. What the?!?!
All that being said, I have read that his coins are some of the most counterfeited out there.
So, 2 things please: post your Otho coins in this thread. And give me your honest opinion on the authenticity of my 2 denarii that I have posted below.

 

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From your images, I cannot say with any certainty if they are authentic or not. However, I lean more towards them being authentic. Just a suggestion: when asking for other's opinions on authenticity, provide as much information as you have, i.e., weight, measurements, provenance, where purchased. Any information you may have will help.


OTHO
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P, bare head right
REVERSE: VICTORIA OTHONIS, Victory standing left on globe, wreath extended in right, palm frond in left
Struck at Rome, Jan-Feb 69 A.D
3.179g, 18.7mm
RIC I 17, BMCRE I 25, SRCV I 2165
ex. Forum Ancient Coins

 

Thanks Bing! I really appreciate all your tips and help. As you've probably noticed, I'm new here and a bit of a novice but very passionate about ancients! Unfortunately I don't have a ton of details on these guys. One a gift and one from eBay. Both are 18MM. My old LG phone is a sorry excuse for a camera. What might you recommend for photographing ancient coins and how do you guys take these pictures that look like they are floating in space? Other than that nice denarius! His "hair" always cracks me up. It looks like Kramer from Seinfeld. Oh, and LOVED watching you with Danny Kay and Rosemary Clooney earlier today

 

Don't worry about being new here. Anyone interested in Ancients is welcome. Do you own a scale? They can be found fairly cheap on Ebay along with calipers for measuring. "Careful" when buying on Ebay is the byword. There are many nice coins and good sellers on the bay, but there are also the scumbags who sell fakes and then claim they had no idea when confronted. I always check the fake databases and the NFSL http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=18502.0 before purchasing any coin from a seller I do not know.

As far as imaging, our resident expert is Doug Smith ( @dougsmit ). I think I take decent photos, but nothing compared to Doug and some of the others. There have been many threads here regarding how to photograph coins. See if you can find one or look on some of Doug Smith's web pages.

Glad to have you on-board. It's always good to see new coins.

 

I'm far from an expert but they both look OK to me.

 

.. the only Otho i've ever bought was deemed a modern counterfeit by NGC.

 

They look ok to me, but Im no expert either:/



Otho Billon Tetradrachm of Alexandria . YEAR 1
C. 69 AD
13.44g
25mm
obv. Otho laureate head right, LA before / rev. bust of Alexandria right in elephant skin headdress. RPC 5358. Dattari 324
Grey tone with good metal and detail. SCARCE
Ex John Casey Collection

 

I don't see anything obviously wrong with them. Check here for images of some known fakes: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/

A Triton T2 digital scale is probably good enough for weighing coins. They also make a T3 that can measure to the 1/100 of a gram, but I'm not convinced that level of refinement is necessary unless you plan to collect Greek silver fractions.

 

Like everyone else, I see nothing from the photos that screams fake but that is just an opinion, although i hope you can clarify where they were initially purchased (i.e. a reputable dealer) and feel more comfortable as to their genuineness.

Denarii of Otho can be a bit pricey and my sole worn example certainly went for more than I was hoping it would....

 

Definitively evaluating authenticity even from good photos is not possible, but blurry photos ensure that any opinions about your coins' authenticity will be 90% guesswork.

For better evaluations/opinions:

- Post sharply focused photos
- Include weights and sizes
- Include the EBay vendor's name from whom the coin was purchased

You'll get a lot of great help on this site -- the better the input, the better the output.

 

We will each have our own opinion on just about every subject. Being right or wrong means little. Apollo blessed and cursed the prophetess Cassandra by enabling her to be right every time but ensuring no one would believe what she said. Many of us here take good photos. I put more into it and try to be the best I can be but that is serious overkill for the needs of participating on the lists. Here is my prophesy: What works for you is good for you. I find cell phone photos terrible but my Galaxy 8 takes better coin photos than 98% of phones and 50% of cameras. If you want to get into coin photography seriously, I will be happy to discuss the matter in private conversations. I keep saying I will update my coin photo web pages again (I have had many) but the most recent (not perfect by any means) is found here:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/coinphoto2011ez.html
The photo below shows my current rig. Overkill? Certainly but I have made 20x30" prints that please me so I am willing to accept the effort.


Like all of us, I also have opinions on coins and collecting. I may not be right like Cassandra but she and I share the situation that no one wants to hear or prophesies/opinions. I believe that a beginner, however zealous and however wealthy, should not buy a coin of Otho or any of another hundred 'rare' varieties until they have gotten in some practice with coins of cheaper emperors that are not faked quite as often. Perhaps Vespasian, Trajan or a hundred others would provide a little 'feel' for what an ancient coin should be. I am not suggesting you buy semi-identifiable scrap metal uncleaned uglies but just to avoid taking your drivers' test in a Ferrari when a nice Toyota might suffice at first. There are a million different ancient coins. Your peers should not laugh at you because you don't have the 100 'best' right away.

I will show a few of my recent coins and recent photos below. None are perfect. None cost what your Otho did. I have been collecting over 50 years and I did buy an Otho this year. I hope in 50 years you are still enjoying coins you bought today.
Trajan - honoring his birth father


Geta, son of Septimius Severus, Minerva



Philip I AE tetradrachm of Alexandria / Serapis with Cerberus


Gela, Sicily, AE bull / river god


....and my Otho tetradrachm of Antioch (much less popular than the denarii)

 

Here is an Egyptian Otho. I have always felt that the Celator's were busy cutting dies BEFORE they received the Bust models for this issue. Regardless, I have always liked this for its Helmeted Roma reverse!


RI Otho 69 CE BI AR Tet 23mm Egypt Helmeted Roma Emmet 186

 

As you asked here's my only Otho so far


Otho, Denarius Rome mint, AD 69
IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P, Bare head of Otho right
SECURITAS PR, Securitas standing left
3.50 gr
Ref : RIC # 8, RCV #2162, Cohen #17

Q

 

I am too inexperienced to presume an opinion on the coins in question but learnt a lot from this thread.
I'm still practising hard on photography but the revelation here is that black is probably the best background tio use and thank you Doug for the image of your rig . Here is the Otho I bought as part of my 12 Caesars quest and I bought it from a collector who had provenance to a well known dealer so I took my chance. I have been photographing on a red background recently and I will drop that in favour of black.
My Otho is NRCV 2163 Size 18.33 mm Weight 3.23 gms.

 

@Dafydd, I'm sorry to be the one to say that first but from the pictures you provide I would be a bit anxious about your specimen : soft devices, little bubbles on the flans and what seems to be a seam on the edge.
Let's wait for appreciations from experienced members ...

Q

 

Oh Dear, I'll take a closer look as well but don't be sorry as this feedback is invaluable to me. Fortunately I do have some redress with the coin.

 

I had the same thought, but didn't want to be the first to issue the "F" word.

 

Your denarius on the left looks as a forgery the one onthe right is probbly authentic.
Here are my two Othos, one in silver, the other in bronze. I would think that the silver portrait is more likely rom the Rome mint, while the bonze shows that the celator in Antioch had to figure out how Otho might look !

OTHO. Head bare r. "IM P M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P". Rev.: Securitas standg.l. holding wreath and sceptre.'SECVRITAS PR'. RIC I 17, BMCRE 20, RSC I 17.. , Rome: 15 Jan..- mid April 69. AR.D. (3.41 gr.) Choice.VF.

OTHO. Laureate head r. “IMP M CAE O[THO CAE] AVG”. Rev.: large “SC” in wreath. C.31, RPC.4320. Wruck 68. AE (29mm./15.11gr.), Seleucus & Pieria, Mint: Antioch 69 AD. nVF. R. Black patina with earthen highlights.

 

I did trawl through the Forum Fake reports when I first acquired it and was dismayed to see so many cast copies but couldn't find an identical coin to mine and it does look better in the hand than photographs. I have a 600 power microscope I attach to my laptop so I will take a closer look but have to admit that my own photographs don't fill me with confidence.I have a few coins from the same source and will list them after I take some decent photographs because I am able to return them. I am very grateful for comments even though they might not be what I want to hear.

 

Sorry to pile on here, but I agree (for all the reasons previously posted) that it's very unlikely your Otho is genuine.