Superb Crispus

That's a crisp Crispus @Sallent, well done. It's sometimes well worth waiting for the right one to come


Crispus, AE3 Aquilea mint, 2nd officina
CRISPVS NOB CAES, cuirassed and laureate bust right
CAESARVM NOSTRORVM, VOT/V within a laurel wreath, AQS. at exergue
3.22 gr
Ref : Cohen # 31,



Crispus, AE3 Lugdunum mint, 1st officina
CRISPVS NOB CAES, cuirassed and laureate bust right
BEATA TRANQUILLITAS, Altar surmounted with three stars, inscribed VO/TIS/XX. C|R in field and PLG at exergue
3.1 gr
Ref : RIC VII Lyons # 133, Cohen # 6

Q

 

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Here’s my Crispus
Crispus reduced Follis, Thessaolnica mint.
Obv: FLIVL CRISPVS NOB CAES
Rev: CAESARVM NOSTROM, VOT X in wreath. Ric 125

 

A nice example from Heraclea mint.



Weight: 3.41 g
Diameter: 18.5 mm

Mint: Heraclea, Γ officina
Circa: 318-320 AD
Reference: RIC VII 40

Observe
Laureate, draped bust left, globe and sceptre in left hand, mappa in right.
DN FL IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES

Reverse
Camp-gate without doors, with three turrets, with 6 stone layers.
PROVIDENTIAE CAESS // SMHΓ

 

Struck at Arles, and rated R4, this bronze of Crispus has Mars on reverse.

 

When I was a kid there was a saying "No one is normal except you and I ..... and I'm not so sure about you." We simply can not measure people of 300 AD by standards of 2018. A Roman ruler who lived up to your 21st century rules would not have lived long enough to have been recorded by history. We don't have to worship the every move a ruler made to collect his coins. We do not have to approve of every behavior quirk to listen to a musician's records. By these standards, I believe no modern person collects coins can use the Sheldon (MS70 and friends) grading scale without swearing allegiance to his somatotype theories and photographic projects. Read:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert_Sheldon

 

Nice coin. Here is mine:

Hardly any similarity at all.

 

I agree wholeheartedly, and I've said as much in the past. In fact, it's hard to hold rulers of just a century ago to the standards of today.

 

Here is a Crispus I received today.
I am very happy with the bust on this coin!



I believe this is correct:
RIC vol VII Aquileia 106 R1
322 AD
Obv: CRISPVS NOB CAES, bust r.
Rev: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM around wreath containing VOT X
Size: 18.95 mm
Weight: 2.8 grams

 

Hi guys. I am very new to coin collecting, and I am still very weary about being conned.

Very recently I have purchased online a supposed follis of Crispus. When the coin arrived it turned out to be in superb condition, much better than on photos even though that's definitely the same coin. So superb in fact that.. it made me suspicious.

What do you think? Could this be a fake?

 

I think your coin was struck in Trier.

 

Lovely coins! I enjoy how affordable high grade LRBs from the Constantinian period can be. One of my favorite bronzes, incidentally, is a crispus:

 

Thanks guys! I already love your community.

 

Welcome Jaxa. Though I suppose any coin can be faked, I see no reason to doubt your coin from the photograph. You may enjoy exploring the links found here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-beginners’-faq-thread.324858/#post-3206438

 

It strikes me that your coin has a slightly strange look to the face which is exactly what this issue from this mint has on the examples I was able to find online. Every mint during this period had a style like we each have a style of penmanship/handwriting. The easiest way to copy this style would be to make casts but your coin looks nothing at all like the garden variety casts we see all too often. It looks struck as it should. The coin even has a weak die clash on the reverse which certainly could be copied in a cast but looks perfectly normal to me. What I'm saying here is the coin is either genuine or one of the highest level fakes I have seen. The only way we will show it to be a fake is if we find other exact clones of the coin proving the maker was very good but unable to stop by making just one coin.

We always tell new people not to buy coins from sources they do not know and trust. You did not tell us where you got the coin other than 'online' so we don't know if the source would be of concern because they are known sellers of fakes or reassuring because they were known experts that would be hard to fool. I agree that the coin is so nice, it is reasonable to be suspicious. Was this a test? If so, I failed.

 

It wasn't any test. I am from Poland and I bought the coin on an online antiquarian marketplace that operates in my country. The sellers are other collectors and antique shops. The coin was sold by an antique shop, but better safe than sorry.

I am still quite new to this hobby, as I described in my first post. The coin definitely doesn't look like a cheap cast copy to me, butI had some doubts after seeing its excellent condition. Which is why I asked for help.

Thank you very much for your help. I appreciate that you took your time to look at my coin.

 

I have always tried to remain as dispassionate as possible about historic figures and I agree to some extent with @dougsmit That it is imprudent to judge Romans by American standards. At the same time @Sallent is obviously very enthusiastic about Roman history and that isn't necessarily a bad quality. I wish more people had any kind of passion about ancient history.