Newp: A very blundered imitation of a Roman Republic denarius

I've been actively looking for good silver imitations of Roman Republic denarii for quite some time, both to add to my own collection but also to add their dies and information to my photofile when I can't bring them home. It's reached the point where in many cases I'm checking the "Celtic" sections of auctions before the Roman Republic section, and when the most recent Agora sale went up I was thrilled to see the coin I'm sharing today as it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. Even now after looking at and thinking about the coin for over a month I'm still not quite sure what to make of it.

As mentioned earlier, this coin appears to be an imitation of a Roman Republic denarius based both on the weight of about 3 grams and the general devices of a laureate head right and a figure in a quadriga as well as the placement of the reverse legend, but looking closer it's difficult to really place exactly which Roman Republic denarii might have been the prototypes for this coin. While many coins feature an obverse along the lines of "laureate head right", none features a reverse of figure holding a shield parallel to the viewer driving a quadriga right, in fact the only two reverses that come to mind for such devices are L. Postumius Albinus(Cr. 252/1) and C. Licinius L.f. Macer(Cr. 354/1), but the reverse is just too blundered to confidently say either of these is the prototype so this coin remains a bit of a mystery but a mystery I'm happy to have been able to add to my collection.


Imitations of Roman Republic coinage, unknown group, uncertain prototypes, AR Denarius(18.5mm, 2.92g, 12h). 1st century B.C.. Laureate head right(perhaps Apollo or Jupiter?)/Uncertain figure(perhaps Mars?) in quadriga(or triga?) right, holding shield in left hand. Blundered, probably meaningless legend("VKNOISF"?) below.
Ex Agora 74, 6/5/2018, lot 2, ex RBW Collection, privately purchased from Bill Verres, 9/20/2002

As always, feel free to share anything relevant

 

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its a shame you don't know where it was found, looks to me to be Celtic, but idk for sure..you know, it's the "most sincerest form of flattery"..

 

That is REALLY cool @red_spork ! That is a very interesting coin to research... what coin were the imitators inspired???

I chuckled when I first saw the coin... not reading your write-up, I was drawn to the reverse: There were NO LLAMA's in Europe! LOL, my mind raced to the ancient Paracas Culture in the Peru area. LOL, Perhaps they visited Rome and brought some Llamas. Oh, well, fun to let imagination flourish.

ok, so here is a favorite sheep of mine:

RR L Rustius 76 BCE AR Den 19mm 3.6g Mars SC Rome - Ram L RVSTI Cr 389-1 Sear 320
Ex @Mat

Oh, yeah, sheep connection: sheep=wool=llama

 

@red_spork ,
To my eye, it looks vaguely like an imitation Procilius. Like the below coin from my collection. Though granted, the imitation has an extra horse.

 

It's definitely a possibility. There were multiple groups making these imitations including Celtic and Thracian tribes

This type is definitely a possible prototype as there are multiple known imitations of it. Excellent procilius by the way.