My one and only fouree...Claudius. Fouree of Denarius of Rome. Brittania.

Fifth of the 12 Caesars. Claudius. AD 41-54. AR Fouree Denarius imitating Rome mint. Brittania. Very rare. NGC AU.



The fourth emperor of Rome, he succeeded his nephew Caligula upon the formers assassination by the Praetorian guard and some conspirators. As Emperor he expanded Roman territories further especially into Britannia (Britain). His coinage especially silver denarius are particularly scarce despite his reasonably long reign.

This coin is the only ancient Fouree in my collection. Fourees are ancient imitations of official coins which were circulated at the risk of death by forgers. They usually use a base metal (eg copper) core covered in a layer of actual silver and struck on. This was to maximize profits in saving precious silver for circulation and is practiced since ancient times predating Claudius. Nonetheless they are legitimate numismatic items and considerably much scarcer than the real deal due to the immense risks of being caught.

Unlike other fourees, this fouree is unique because they are the probably a semi-legitimate emergency coinage tolerated largely by the government. Following the invasion of Britannia in A.D. 43, there is an urgent need to fill the need of thousands of Roman soldiers for coinage. Though not officially sanctioned, the practice was probably tolerated. These fourees were found concentrated around England and in limited quantities per hoard.

 

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Wow that is in wonderful shape for a fouree! Love the portrait!

 

Thanks.. the condition is really good.. the silver plate is fully intact and no traces of the core evident as I can see

 

Since there are no traces of the core, what is the telltale sign it is a fouree? It's a lovely coin no matter.

 

Weight.. The Romans are particular about accuracy of their coins...

 

What is the weight? I'm just curious.

 

Approximately 2.82g according to the record provided prior to being slabbed.

 

Beautiful for a fouree. It would be interesting if it was just an underweight official denarius.

 

Would be great if it was.. But I highly doubt it though..haha

 

Imitations were struck in Britannia and Gallia not with deceptive intent; they were money of necessity intended to boost necessary small change supply that would support the legions in the provinces, the local economy and not damage the government. Therefore, it is assumed that they circulated with official approval. But not all imitations are money of necessity - we need to distinguish ancient forgeries (intended to deceive, such as plated coins), or barbaric lightweight issues that probably never circulated anywhere near a Roman military town. The many imitative coins produced during this time are a clear indication that control over the money supply was not as in former times.

I have this ancient cast with a nice classical bust:
26 x 25 mm, 6.673 g minted in Britannia or Gallia ca. 35 - 45 AD under the reign of Claudius
Prototype to RIC I Tiberius 82;
Obv.: DIVVS AVGVSTVS PATER radiate head of Augustus l.
Rev.: Eagle standing on globe, head r., with wings open. S C at sides

 

I used to enjoy collecting fourrees and had a good variety. (I still like them, I just don't seek them out, though I bought a little bag of Augustus fourree denarii a couple years ago.) I still have many, but not as many as I used to.

Nice fourrees can look very close to the real thing and be pretty hard to tell apart:

Vespasian Denarius:


Alexander II Zabinas Seleukid Tetradrachm (still have this one):


Or they can have atrocious artistry that surely wouldn't have fooled anyone at the time:

Trajan Decius Fourree version of his famous DACIA - Draco Antoninianus.


Julius Caesar Elephant Denarius (sold this one, but gave the customer a refund after he'd gotten NGC to slab it and didn't like the slab! Sold it again for more):



Another one (worse but still Caesar!):


I have or had bunches of these Antoniniani:


When I used to buy big bags of uncleaned Roman coins, I once found a Vespasian Judaea Capta denarius fourree, but I didn't keep a photo. I did keep a photo of this Brutus that I found:

 

Wow.. Thanks a lot for the insight. I would assume that fourees should expect low quality imitations and of limited quantities for fear of death. However these Claudian issues defy this logic. Hence your sharing of this info makes a lot of sense if they are tolerated or semi official issues. I do think am element of deception exists though if they replicate actual denarii and in dimensions (except weight). Wouldn't it be better to issue smaller denominations or units like the Greeks did?

 

Awesome specimens.. I too think fourees are quiet interesting to collect as they were contemporary to the original pieces. Unlike modern fakes, they also carry strong historical value.

 

I guess that smaller denominations would have needed many more coins to be struck

 

Very true..lol

 

Can you share the NGC label? Never seen one for a fouree. Awesome!

 

Not the OP coin, but here's my example (also shown above but here's just the tag, too). This one might've been encapsulated ~10 years ago, so I'd be curious if they still use the same terminology/format for them now:

 

Good thing I didn't live in the old days because some of these forgeries would have fooled me. I would have turned around and spent them, and then....... DEATH!

 

I think it's an interesting but very open question of how that actually worked in practice.

Fake coins were common, and people doubtless passed them along unknowingly all the time, so I have to assume the state and commercial authorities, and other members of the public, applied a high degree of discretion in determining whom to punish and how. I imagine actual executions were rare, despite the ubiquity of forgeries.

But I'd like to know more. I'm sure someone's studied the topic...

 

Agreed. I kinda figure that the system wouldn't be designed to punish someone so extremely for simply being tricked. However, back in those days, you probably couldn't depend on a robust justice system like we know today. Whether you lived or died was probably more dependent on how the decision maker felt about you that day!