Hi everybody. I purchased my first Roman coin last week, a Hederian Denarius with standing FIDE PVBLICA facing right on the reverse. It looks very close to a RIC 240 but in my example, the basket of fruit Fide is holding is in between V and the B of PVBLICA. I've only been able to find examples online where the basket is in between the P and the V. The coin has definitely been cleaned at some point (I got a decent price so I don't really care) but I'm obviously more concerned about authenticity. Thanks for any help.
You need to give us the weight in grams. I will tell you, though, it is really difficult to determine authenticity by photographs alone. It would also help if you can get a photo in natural sunlight to give us an idea of the natural tone of the metal.
I see nothing that screams "be concerned". Yours looks like a match to this one: https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s3492.html Hadrian denarius. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate head right / FIDES PVBLICA, Fides standing right, holding a basket of fruit and grain ears EDIT: Remember - These dies were hand carved and as such, no two were exactly alike.
No worries. wildwinds is a great site in case you didn't already have it bookmarked. I'm fairly new myself but like I said, nothing screams fake on your coin to me. It looks like a well worn yet nice example of a Hadrian denarius.
I wonder how reliable is it to consider the weight? I have seen denarius as low as 2g to nearly 4g from the adoptive era.
Breaks in the legend are normal, especially in the reverses. lighting is weird, but I don’t see it being harshly cleaned
If you buy from respected dealers your chances of buying a fake are low (not zero, but low). Here is a list of very many good dealers: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/dealers.html
Welcome to Coin Talk, and to ancients. I too think your coin looks legit. Now that you have one in silver, you can also get a bigger one in orichalum (brass, more or less): Hadrian Æ Dupondius (c. 134-138 A.D.) Rome Mint [HADRI]ANVS [AVG COS III P P], laureate bust right / FID[ES PVBLI]CA S C, Fides standing right, holding two corn-ears downwards, in right hand and basket of fruit in left. RIC II, 3 2269; BMC 1591 (old RIC 890d (dupondius)) (12.15 grams / 23 x 20 mm) eBay Jan. 2021 Attribution Note: "Laureate bust" dupondius; Hadrian struck these c. 128-138 A.D.). This type with "PVBLICA" is rare; OCRE has one, which is in the Münzkabinett, Kunst Historisches Museum Wien; British Museum has one as well. http://www.ikmk.at/object?id=ID61754 http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2.hdn.809d_as
Welcome aboard. Feel free to post any questions you have about ancients here. There are many very knowledgeable collectors who follow this group and are willing to help out newbies. Nice denarius, BTW.
An Antoninus Pius version: Antoninus Pius. 138-161 AD. Æ Sestertius (31mm; 22.39 gm; 12h). Rome mint. Struck 143-4 AD. Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate head right. Rev: IMPERA-TOR II, S-C across fields, Fides standing right, holding grain ears in r. hand, basket of fruit in l. RIC III 716a; BMCRE 1608
My standard advice for new collectors is to look at coins. A lot of them, from reputable sources. I would start at auction on biddr.com, numisbid.com, and cngcoins.com. look, read, pay attention to prices, etc. It really can be overwhelming, but after a while you will get an interest in an area or two and start to specialize some. I agree with everyone else, the Hadrian looks authentic.
Tip for new collectors: the time to worry about authenticity is before you make a purchase. You should never worry once it’s in your hand, because no amount of reassurance will remove that trace of doubt in your mind. Enjoyment derived from a doubtful coin is nothing like the enjoyment you’ll derive from a coin you know is authentic. The classic advice is to know the seller or know the coin. For novices I’d suggest ignoring the second bit for now. Know who you are buying from. There are many reputable knowledgeable dealers who will do all the authenticity worrying for you pre-purchase. Unless you find detecting fakes an interesting way to spend your time, leave that to the knowledgeable dealers or NGC. Later, when you’re more experienced and knowledgeable, you may want to soften the dealer requirement, and examine the photographs and description and “know the coin” you are buying from riskier venues. Do this and you’ll never worry about a fake unless what you receive is different from what was advertised. And that is easy to address: ship it back. Don't have doubtful coins in your collection.
