Otho' let me know what you think

Hi folks what do you think of this little cracker?

 

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It looks OK, but Otho fake have fooled me before.


Otho (69 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: AYTOK MAPK OΘΩNOΣ KAIΣ ΣEB, laureate head right, LA (year 1) lower right.
R: EΛEY-ΘEPIA, Eleutheria (Liberty) standing left, wreath in extended right hand, scepter in left hand, leaning with left elbow on column, simpulum (ladle used for tasting and pouring sacrificial libations) left in lower left field.
12.58g
24.4mm
Milne 359; RPC I 5354 (5 spec.); Dattari 327; BMC Alexandria p. 25, 208; Curtis 238; Kampmann 18.6; Emmett 184

Ex. Jyrki Muona Collection

This variety with a simpulum on the reverse is much rarer than the same type without this control symbol. RPC reports only 5 specimens with the simpulum and 17 specimens without it. This variety is missing from the important collections in Cologne, Paris, and Milan, and we know of only one example offered at auction in the past two decades (CNG 76, 12 Sep 2007, lot 3152, VF, $430 plus fees).


Published on Wildwinds!


Otho (69 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΜΑΡΚ ΟΘΩΝΟΣ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ, laureate head right; L A (date) to right.
R:ΡΩΜΗ, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Roma right, holding shield and spear.
13.4g
23mm
Dattari (Savio) 330; K&G 18.9; RPC I 5362; Emmett 186.1

Published on Wildwinds!

 

I have to admit I'm here for some help as I've heard there are common fakes for OTHO. Was that due to his short reign?
I dug this coin up on the weekend and have given it a gentle clean with water after is been in the ground for just short of 2000 years.

 

Looks ok to me, especially since you are the one that found it in the ground. What is the weight? Diameter?

 

I've got some digital scales on order, the picture ar on a scale matt showing mm marks on, around the 17-18mm diameter I'd say

 

The different quality of the lettering seems a bit odd

 

How so?

 

The edges of the letterings are a bit too sharp for most of the obverse and reverse I think, its not usual to see a pattern like that.

I'm still going to say that it is genuine and a great example too.

 

Ah right I see, compared to what I've looked at it's not overly worn in comparison. I'm very excited to have found this and it is my finest roman coin to date, I do hope it's not a counterfeit .

 

I’m confused by this post. You say you dug up this coin yourself this weekend. But you also seem to worry that it’s counterfeit. How could it possibly be a modern counterfeit if it’s a field find?

 

Maybe I'm confused, were counterfeits only a modern thing and not done at that timeperiod? If it's a modern thing then I can guarantee it's original because I dug it up. Hope this helps.

 

@Beerwulf85 There are not many to research with that reverse. The obverse legend is either short version with no M between IMP and OTHO, or long version with M

 

This is mine, bought from an old Danish collection 15 years ago. Lettering style is similar, as is much of the portrait. The nose, however, looks a bit different from many other Otho coins. It still looks good to me.

 

Ancient counterfeits— usually fourrees— of Otho are known. But your coin does not show any evidence of being fourree.

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/f41.html

 

Weight is 3.1g

 

Lovely coin you have there

 

Weight and diameter are in the correct range.

 

The fact that you pulled this coin, a denarius of Otho of lovely style, out of the ground is truly amazing!
I think it pays of to have an expert take a look at it. If you are based in the UK or Europe, there are quite a few around. Whether you want to keep it or sell it, an original denarius of Otho in this quality is worth quite a few pounds.
You might want to check out the fake coin reports on forumancientcoins.com, before deciding to do that. And search for otho. (somehow the website doesn't work on my computer at the moment...)
The weight is ok, RIC states the weight should be 3.25 - 3.5 gr. But if you look at acsearch.info you can see the weight is all over the place. Mine is 2.68 gr....
On acsearch.info you can also take a look at other sold examples, to see if there's a die-match. That would also help in answering the question whether its a fake or not. (See, e.g. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=9721178, that comes pretty close)
Now, if you want to know what its worth, you can look up sold prices of comparable examples, using acsearch and google. There's nothing more unpredictable then auction prices though, but it should give you a general picture.

And if you don't know what to do with it, you could always give it to me (just kidding of course)

 

Thank you very much Limes, my hobby is truly amazing although 99% of the time we are playing clean the field for the landowner. I have found a number of roman coins over the years I've been doing it but this OTHO is by far my finest.
I have also found a number of hammered English coins and a beautiful Charles 11 early milled maundy penny which is in amazing condition and is tiny with a diameter of about 10mm.
Thank you so much for your reply. I will be contacting my local flo from the portable antiquities scheme to get it logged on the PAS system due to the rarity of the coin.