Domitius Domitianus - is this ok?

Of course i need a Domitius Domitianus, and I came across this tetradrachm for just $110:

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/co...dvancing__alexandria_mint/673397/Default.aspx

Obviously it's not a top shelf example, but still, I'd expect to pay a lot more than that. There's some kind of damage (? corrosion) and I think a grading of "Fine" is overreach. Does the style look right to you? Is that latin legend odd? Shouldn't it be Greek?

 

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i don't think that coin matches with the picture does it? it really doesn't look like an alexandrian tet...but i guess this guy was the last of the line for alexandrian provincials...so i'm not sure.

 

I know right. I'm not an expert on the final Alexandrian provincials either. The description gives a Greek legend, yet the obverse legend is clearly Latin. I'll ask the seller about that.

 

Greg, I don't know if its right or not , but I can show you mine from Alexandria.

Doug H.

 

Doug, yours is an Alexandrian follis, and a nice one - which was issued after the provincial denominations were discontinued. The Latin legend is right for a follis, but I can't find any references for tetradrachma of DD with Latin legends. Actually I'm feeling this OP coin is a fake. The seller may not realise, so I've sent an inquiry.

 

Or is the "tetradrachm" of Domitian from 200 years prior to DD?

 

@> Greg,
I can't marry the quoted legend to the coin.
It looks like Domitian to me.
(But don't take my word for it.)

 

It's not an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Domitius Domitianus. If it were, the obverse legend would be

ΔOMITIANOCCEB

Also, the style is wrong and that reverse for Domitius Domitianus is not listed in Emmett.

My guess is that it is provincial of Domitian, or some type of fake of Domitian. The combination of Latin obverse legend and Greek reverse legend is odd, but perhaps some provinces used a combination?

 

@> T.I.F.
(As per the quoted legend - which doesn't appear on the coin.)

 

Awesome stuff @TIF! I thought i was getting onto the right track the more i thought about it. Yes, a real or fake Domitian provincial it is!

 

I think the seller made a hasty mistake. Maybe he put the wrong picture on the listing? Also, even in that condition a Domitius Domitian, whether provincial or imperial, would have a higher price tag.

 

If you bought it, you could return it legitimately if the coin you received was the one in the photo, BUT you might actually get a Domitius Domitian for $110. Think about it.

 

Haha if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

In 2008, the same photo appeared and someone called it a Provincial of the Flavian Domitian:
http://b.zezelu.co/coins/31748.php

I see there were Provincials of Domitian with Latin obverse and Greek reverses but the one listed in Sear from Sebaste has Latin language titles while this one uses Latin letters to spell the Greek title AVTOKPA(TOP). I do not know the ID for the coin but believe it is most likely a genuine coin of the first century AD. It most certainly is nothing related to the later usurper.

This is the sort of coin I would buy for educational value but the price I'd pay is closer to $10. The 2008 posting suggests someone has owned the coin for a long time and refuses to give up on their fantasy. There was a time that such a listing on vCoins might have been policed by their management but that job may no longer exist no that Barry Murphy left for NGC. If there is someone who believes in vCoins and has any responsibility for its reputation, this listing should be reported to them.

 

Very interesting to see the recent history of this particular coin. I've already emailed the seller, I'll see if he keeps describing the coin as DD. If not, happy to find out what the vcoins admin thinks. I only came across this coin because I do a regular search on vcoins for DD. I'm glad I asked Coin Talk for their thoughts. Someone else with similar collecting interests might not be able to benefit from CT's advice and buy the coin.

 

While I'm sorry to read that the OP coin may be either a fake or more likely a later bronze as Doug states, this thread certainly has been informative....and makes me ever more wary of shopping on vCoins.

 

Obviously I'm late into this as the OP coin link seems to have changed and is corrected. Its obviously Domitian, not Domitius, and certainly not a tetradrachm. I just pulled RPC off the shelf and neither of the references cites match. Not sure what the city attribution is (I dont want to take the time), but I think its genuine.

 

Hi Greg!
The portrait in the coin looks like Hadrian, and letters looks tooled to me, looks weird...

 

I think that this thread is awesome ... all it says to me is what I've always stated

=> post your coin-targets "before" you pull the trigger ... it's pretty simple with our Coin Princess and her Merry Men manning the fricken helm!!

 

I always like it when you call me Princess but there are many folks on here who are far more experienced with detecting fakes, and with everything else coin-related. I'm just a Hermione-wannabe