Is this coin bronze or silver?

I bought this coin yesterday from lodge antiques, and it says it’s a a Ae follis in its description but it looks silver to me, this is what the description says
MAXIMIANUS. Ae follis. Nicomedia. 285-ca.310 A.D.. Nearly Extremely Fine. . 11568.
the coin is 28.5mm

 

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It could be the lighting or it's a coin that is well silvered, which is a big plus.

 

I would guess the lighting. I will interested when you have it in hand.

 

I'm sure it's the lighting - it's typical of Lodge Antiquities photos. The coin itself is not silver.

 

Thank you. I will update on this post once i get it

 

Your coin is a nicely preserved silvered follis. The core is bronze, hence the AE designation, and more often than not with these coins the silvering is virtually gone. Finding an example with most of the silvering intact is quite unusual.

What's the coin's weight?

 

it is 8.34g and correction it is 28.12mm

 

More likely re-silvered - you can see traces of corrosion under the silver.

 

At 8.34 grams that coin is in the range of AE folles of the period. I really like the intact silvering.

These are my only examples.

Maximianus, AE Follis, Silvered, 286-310 AD, Siscia Mint.

The bronze shows through at the high points, in places, especially along the rim.



Maximian (Maximianus), BI Follis, Carthage, 286-310 AD.

Here, the silver wash was applied at the mint to a billon coin.

 

Here is a coin I purchased from Lodge Antiquities. Their photo:



My photo:



As you can see, light glares off the dealer photo, making the coin appear much lighter in color than it actually is. I expect yours will look similar.

 

That's a beautiful coin and wonderful photographing.

 

Thanks! I'm always glad for an excuse to show it off, maybe a bit too frequently. It's one of my favorite coins and the photos turned out better than most.

 

The lighting that Lodge uses casues the visual effect that you are seeing. I suspect that the coin will be dark brown. I have bought from Lodge and the following coin had similar images but I was aware of what I was buying. The coin had more remaining silvering than I expected as the Lodge image obliterated the location of the silvering. I didn't keep the Lodge image.

 

I doubt that, the silvering layer was often rather thin, so you can have corrosion under thinning parts, or next to breaks in the silvering, potentially. I can't say that I've seen any actively re-silvered coins as I think you're describing.

Here's an example of a silver coating that was a little on the thin side, with some level of corrosion on the base metal.

 

The trouble is that on the original Lodge coin the silver fills the corrosion pits.
And there is no sign of any corrosion products, or of any wear of course.

 

Folles can still have a full silvering to them, but some pictures can be deceptive. Maximianus as Augustus from Lyon & Galerius as Caesar from Trier, both with full silvering remaining





Q

 

I bought this coin yesterday from lodge antiques, and it says it’s a a Ae follis in its description but it looks silver to me, this is what the description says
MAXIMIANUS. Ae follis. Nicomedia. 285-ca.310 A.D.. Nearly Extremely Fine. . 11568.
the coin is 28.5mm
UPDATE//////
so i got the coin today and it was just the lighting of the photo here is the coin

 

Silver or not, it's a nice coin with a good patina.

 

Yes, that's how their photos tend to be. Very nice coin!

 

If you browse through their inventory you will find many coins that appear much the same as the OP coin but the description is "Glossy dark patina"