Here are six large bronzes of Vitellius, RIC 141, obviously from the same pair of dies (or casting form) - note the unusual GERMA-N and the obverse legend error omitting the (TR) P due to missing space. 1) sold on VCOINS as a Paduan (23,71 mm, 34 mm): 2) Bertolami Fine Arts, sold as Paduan (35 mm, 25,23g, 6 h): 3) a Paduan, posted by CT member Carthago: 4) Uppsala Coin Cabinett (19,89 gr / 35,55 mm / 7,5h) "most probably a later forgery": 5) Harvard Art Museum, supposed to be genuine (22,74 gr, 7 h): 6) Gorny & Mosch, sold as genuine (22,22 gr): I think all of these (including the last two) must be cast forgeries from the same source despite the different weight (and flan shape) due to the identical wear pattern (the presumably genuine specimen in the British Museum is from a different pair of dies). Any suggestions? I still need one of these...
Suggestion: Decide if the story behind the coin offsets the matter of the coin you 'need' probably being post-ancient. It would be a great coin to own for the educational value and I could see buying one sold and priced as what it was (not ancient) as being quite attractive. While there is question on the matter, let someone else pay full price for the doubt.
You would have to do a little more research on these to find out how old some might be. I dont know if they are as old as the contemporary 16th Century examples, but could be after casts up to this century I suppose. Provenance would help you to tell how old each might be.
Here is another one from same obverse die, but with a different reverse die .It seems like they all have the same die shift on obverse that caused some doubling on the lower part of the bust, the ribbons of laureate and the letters. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3511422
Update: I was (luckily) outbid, but someone paid 800 Euros (plus commission etc) for OP coin Nr.6 yesterday. It cannot have served as the host coin for the others as it has less detail than some. Doesn´t it look like the chin seems to have been "smoothed" away to make the portrait look more realistic?
I noticed the price and was really surprised. The buyer will be disappointed at some point when they try to sell. I also watched the Heritage auction live last night. I was shocked at the prices people were paying. Some people think the ancients hobby is dying, but I just dont see it.
