Im thinking this is a victorinus what do you think? Is that an S in the upper left field on the reverse of part of what ever the figure is holding? thanks in advance.
If its barbarous, or limes, or "unofficial issue", won't that make id'ing it difficult? I mean, are you trying to id the coin it was copied from, or the people who made it? These do not have much in the way of reference materials as far as I know, but i could be wrong.
Disagree. I see Tetricus II. The legend begins C PIV ESV with the Tetricvs part not starting until the top of the head. I see the botom of an S at the far right where Caesar should be. As these go, this is pretty clear. It is barbarous but not wild.
Always learning. I feel like a graduate in the 1st grade again Today I have learned the ancient coin term "barbarous". I searched the term "barbarous coin" and found this page: http://www.romancoins.info/Celtic3.html Do you guys use this term to describe all fakes of Ancient coins or do you limit its use to contemporary Roman fakes or all Roman fakes?
Limes, barbarous, etc are always used to denote contemporary counterfeits. Contemporary counterfeits are collectible and considered an integral part of the coinage. Modern counterfeits are never classified as such, and are not wanted like these coins are.
These coins where made when the roman army's began to pull back towards the end of the empire which created a shortage of currency and the locals needed coinage so they made coins resembling the roman coins for everyday transactions.
Jessvc hit the nail on the head. I don't like to see the term 'counterfeit' used for these coins. They were not made to deceive people but to serve as spending money in places poorly served by the real thing. Roman culture spread to the corners of their known world but receded in times when the empire's power was on the wane. People who ad seen the value of a cash economy missed the advantages of using coins and made things that would fill that need. Some are small and trashy but others are every bit the equal of the real thing in terms of value and metal. Some of us consider them very collectible. There are contemporary counterfeits meant to deceive and it is not always easy to tell then apart. Barbarous is a term we use for a style that is too wild and unusual to have been made in the mint or by someone seriously capable of making a deceptive counterfeit.
Lets compare two denarii: This Tiberius was made in India to provide good silver currency when the real thing was either no longer available or after debasement made real Roman coins unacceptable to Indian merchants. The style is barbarous; the silver is good. This Augustus was made to deceive and pass as a real denarius even though a bit of wear revealed the fact that the center of the coin was copper with only a layer of silver wrapped around that core. Several such coins were made from one denarius worth of silver so there was profit in it for some crook. At some point when the wear exposed the core, someone got stuck holding the bag. The style is decent and deceptive but the coin is counterfeit. It is not barbarous. Some of us collect one or the other of these categories; some both.
