Roman gold coin or fake?

Help please. Any idea if this is this a genuine gold coin or a fake? The coin weigs 17.56 grams and is 30-31mm in diameter. I'm not sure it's gold, but if most think this is fake perhaps an acid test would determine if this there is any gold in it. Thanks for any input.

 

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coin appears to be fake. style is all wrong -- a weird admixture of greek (text and reverse) and roman (the portrait), but like nothing i've seen before. also, i've never seen the sort of "halo" line following the bottom of the text around the circumference of the obverse.

don't go breaking out the acid just yet, though. where did you come by the coin? how much did you pay?

others will be along soon to add their 2 cents, i'm sure, but i also recommend visiting acients.info -- lots of dealers and researchers of ancient coins hang out there. they'd be able to give you a learned opinion.

v.

 

Thanks for your input, I suspected some of this as well even though I have almost no knowledge of ancient coins as I collect mostly more recent types. We've had this coin in the family for as far back as I can remember & no one remains to know how it came to us. Anyway, I always suspected it was fake but thought I'd check it out now. I will visit the site you mentioned for more info, thanks.

 

Way too big to be a roman coin.

 

The size is the least of the problems concerning this coin being Roman!!

 

Wow! That's actually a pretty interesting fake. The reverse clearly shows Greek influence and the obverse Roman influence (through the Portrait, though the eyes are vaguely Hellenistic). The style of the legend on the obverse brings to mind Tudor English gold.

 

yeah, its a blend of greek and roman...though not convincing with either in style. Without doubt a fantasy coin but an interesting one I posted this in another forum simply because I was wondering if this might be a known coin type to anyone...like the paduan medals...fake but worth something because they are old and interesting (as well as great works of art) but I dont think so...probably just a modern fantasy...

 

Coin is actually GOLD!

Thanks for all responses, I took this coin to a goldsmith & he assured me it was actually gold. I told him everyone seems to think it is fake but he was wiling to buy it as scrap gold for about $200 & adds an extra $50 for it as a coin. He noted a crack on the rim that seemed original to him & indicated the coins' old age. Now, does it still qualify as forgery? why would anyone forge an unknown type in a larger than normal size & weight & do it in gold?

 

How much does it weigh? Did the goldsmith give you any details on it like the gold purity?

If he's offering you more then melt value, maybe he knows something and is not telling you...

 

It's exactly 17.56 grams and is 30-31mm in diameter. He said he can't determine exact purity without running furhter tests. I suspected he knew something about it (he sells a old gold coins in his shop too), as I told him what I read here about the style of the forgery he seemed to already know that but was 1still very interested in buying it - which to me meant it had more value that he was offering or that it really wasn't a forgery after all.

 

Interesting. He's sure it's gold but can't tell you the carat? Did he test it or was this all by eye?

 

He did some tests, from what I could see he put it in a small pouch & dipped it in water (to test density according to him) plus a few other things like rubbing, smell & sound. I really don't know much of what he was doing or how to test gold I'm pretty sure he knew what he was doing (he's been running that shop for about 15 years)
.

 

He was measuring the specific gravity. Basically, you compare the weight of the coin in water to the weight of an equivalent volume of water.

I wouldn't let him rub my coin. If it is genuine rubbing can cause damage that greatly reduces its value.

 

I would bet my entire collection that it isn't genuine, don't worry about rubbing.

 

Thanks for the explanation & correction. I was convinced it wasn't gold & hence a forgery since all comments I got here and elsewhere indicated it wasn't genuine, so I allowed him to do whatever he wanted until he said he was sure it was gold. Now that I know it is gold, I'm not sure anymore if it is genuine, so back to square one!

Some mentioned it is also too large/heavy to be roman/greek.. so why would a forgerer invest in an exceptionally large GOLD planchet & make an historically & numismatically incorrect forgery? Seems illogical to me.. *edit*: reading the above line which I wrote moment earlier, I just realized that perhaps that was the exact intent: confuse future owners? so is then quite likely a forgery since all seem to agree on that.

Ah well, I'm relieved that at least it was gold & there's some worth in that, so perhaps I will consider selling to the goldsmith after all for $250 & let him worry about who made this coin - else keep it for the sake of the gold only, not as a coin.

 

People create fantasy pieces like this for all sorts of reasons. It could very well be old in that it was made 100 years ago, 200 years ago...maybe even more. I know many struck copies of Roman coins were made in the 1700's or so - I believe for personal use, not to necessarily fool anyone - but I forget the name for these "coins." I think some of them even sell for more than their genuine counterparts in some cases!

At the very least, you've confirmed it's real gold, and worth whatever amount of gold it contains. It's certainly not a genuine ancient coin, but it could still have some historical value. I wouldn't sell it until you are able to get some more solid answers. It's an interesting piece, for sure.

 

There is not a doubt in my mind that the coin is not ancient...it could be an OLD fantasy coin of some kind...but it is not a real ancient coin. Maybe he simply thinks he can sell it even as a fantasy coin...its not a forgery as it does not emulate in any way a real coin in style or subject. It could very well be that the man simply doesnt know his ancients...just because one sells doesnt means he knows...

Why make a coin like this? Why not? I dont even think the coin was made to fool anyone that it is ancient (though maybe)...it could have been made as a novelty...why does anyone make a fantasy coin....I ran this coin under the nose of quite a few experts in ancient and old coin...all agreed its a fantasy work in poor style....which confirmed what I already knew.

 

You are probably refering to the paduan medals by Giovanni Cavino 1500-1570 ...and compared to them this coin is just ugly and plain, these medals are works of art worth a lot of money today:




This one is a cast of an original.

As I said above, I thought the same, maybe its a fantasy work that is old and would be known to experts...so I showed it to some experts and none knew of it and all said it was simply a fantasy work in a poor style...none seemed to have ever seen it before and it is not in any auction listing on coinarchives (or anywhere else for that matter).

 

Jewelers rub jewelry to determine the gold content. I would not recommend letting him to this to a coin - even though it is obvious that it is a counterfeit. I see no reason to deface the coin needlessly.

Many counterfeits are collectible. I collect counterfeits and I would prefer to have a counterfeit coin that has not been damaged by rubbing.

 

The damge is so small from a rubbing I wouldn't be too concerned. If it was done on the edge you would probably never even notice.