Denarius- real or fake?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by longshot, Jan 17, 2021.

  1. longshot

    longshot Enthusiast Supporter

    Screenshot_20210117-183202_eBay.jpg

    All I have for pics. Thx!
     
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  3. akeady

    akeady Well-Known Member

    Absent any other information, it looks a cast fake to me.

    ATB,
    Aidan.
     
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  4. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    I agree. Looks like a cast fake.

    Here is a real one that was gifted to my son and me when we first started collecting.
    Sorry for the awful picture!
    JC Denarius.jpg
     
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  5. octavius

    octavius Well-Known Member

    From the photo, I'm afraid it appears to be a cast.
     
  6. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    It's hard to tell for sure from just photos. What is the weight of the coin?
     
  7. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    I think that it is a cast copy. I was looking for environmental damage, but the roughness and lack of sharpness, especially on the reverse, seals its fate.
     
  8. Everett Guy

    Everett Guy Well-Known Member

    Was it for sale on ebay starting cheap?
     
  9. AussieCollector

    AussieCollector Moderator Moderator

    A coin like this would be worth a lot of money if real.

    Therefore, you wouldn't just stumble across one.

    I tend to agree with others that the look isn't great, and without further info (like weight and edge) I'd be inclined to say it's not real.
     
  10. longshot

    longshot Enthusiast Supporter

    Thanks guys. Yes it was on Ebay, listed as an "unresearched denarius".
     
  11. octavius

    octavius Well-Known Member

     
  12. longshot

    longshot Enthusiast Supporter

    sold for $111.47
    I wasn't bidding, knowing little about ancients, just thought it was going cheap.
     
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  13. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    It's hard for me to believe that anyone who knows enough to realize what that's supposed to be would simultaneously be naive enough to believe that it's real and could be purchased for that little.
     
  14. svessien

    svessien Senior Member

    These people may well have shill bidders who participate in making the coin look legit.
    Shill bidding is something we don’t talk much about. I believe it’s far from uncommon.
     
  15. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Here's a direct connection with a shill and a coin. Once upon a time diners and restaurants had minature juke boxes on the tables. Put in a quarter, select you songs (three for a quarter) and from a central location your choice of music would play throughout the entire eatery. When someone put in a quarter at their booth, everybody would hear theirs favorites. Owners and managers soon realized that if just one person did that ten others would join in. When things were slow the owner/manager would put in his own quarter and start the ball rolling. Over the course of a day's work he might have put in a couple bucks worth of HIS quarters. To make sure he got his money back he marked his quarters. A very common marking circa early 1960's was red nail polish around Washington's shoulders similar to the red capes that Cardinals of the Catholic Church wore. We use to call them "Kennedy quarters" for JFK who was the first Catholic president. So, those quarters were actually shill coins to get the patrons to start using those jukeboxes. Not too many originals around now as those were 90% silver quarters and most were melted down long ago.
     
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  16. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    Hard to believe anyone dealing any coins would fail to recognize that one as a $500 coin.
     
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  17. Everett Guy

    Everett Guy Well-Known Member

    Ebay sellers selling these for $39.99 as stated copys. Like the one below....other use slight of words leaving buyers wondering (that dont know prices yet...I have been there) if they are real and they might be gettng a good deal. 20210118_200735.jpg Screenshot_20210118-200800_Samsung Internet.jpg
     
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