I get a bad vibe from this coin. Surfaces don't look struck, but there's no seam. Mushy devices. Underweight at 2.9g. Color is wrong, even if it's overcleaned. What do you guys think?
The toning looks off to me (artificial?), otherwise, it looks good to my amateur eyes. But you're the professional, so shouldn't we be the ones asking you?
I can feel the bad vibe. I think you need to look at it as if it was a cast and decide yes or no. The soft features of the reverse are what throws me off, causing me to reassess the obverse. Sorry I can't be of more help. I don't want to post things that teach people how to fake, so anything further be personal message.
John you must have handled thousands of Denarii and you're getting a bad vibe from this one ....I'll go with your vibe!... The overall look of the portrait seems off but I can't really pinpoint anything specific! Just a feel from the photo...The VI is odd and what's that fissure behind the head of Pax?... But of course the low weight could be purely crystallisation and the surfaces environmental erosion....
Yep, if a collecting stud like @John Anthony is getting bad vibes then I would pass. I am more often wrong than right with fakes folks post about, but I would rather have a few less coins and feel confident about my collection than have a few more coins that I would always doubt. I totally agree about the mushy/soapy appearance. As well, I see a few pimples, which is another sign of casting, that I don't like.
Setting up shop as a coin dealer doesn't make you an instant expert at detecting forgeries. I need the collective wisdom of this community as much as anyone.
As a coincidence, I also recently bought a Vespasian denarius, hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. After getting it I got a small bad vibe but @David Atherton told me he doesn't see anything wrong. As I am miserable in detecting forgeries, I will trust him. Perhaps David would post his opinion in regards to this coin also.
It's a very common type, perhaps the most common Vespasian, but there are some fakes floating around. I checked but it's not a match.
Looks porous and corrodded, which would explain the low weight. Style is fine. Appears genuine to my eyes.
@John Anthony, I can see why you would get a bit of a bad vibe from this coin because the portrait style is different from all the usual Vespasian denarii I've seen (@David Atherton would know best on style), and the details are indeed somewhat mushy. However, on the reverse, you can see evidence of the coin being struck (flow lines around the "N" and "M", so it is not pressed. The fields are rough but there do not appear to be any obvious signs signs of casting, the coin just looks overcleaned. So like a few others here, I would lean towards a genuine coin. Weight does seem on the low side but there are other genuine Vespasian denarii that have this weight, so I don't think that's a showstopper.
I didn't have any issues with the style of the coin, just the fabric and weight. It seems the general consensus is authentic but chemically (and harshly) cleaned. I can only assume that it was heavily encrusted. Thank you to everyone for chiming in!
@David Atherton thanks again, your verdict is enough for me Except the FORVM fake coin reports, are there dangerous "common" examples of Flavian fakes? especially for cheap coins.
