Last year I picked this coin from a large container of Roman coins from a trader on a Roman market. It was organized because of the commemoration of a Roman temple (the temple of Empel, in the vicinity of 's Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands). Most of the coins in this tank were authentic, but too worn out for me to be interesting except this one. It is so beautiful that I immediately suspected it had to be false. But for a few euros, I bought it anyway. However, I have now found images of this kind of coins, and they are very similar to my coin. I still suspect that my coin has been counterfeited, but that has been done very well. So worry about that, if counterfeiters are so good. Pictures and information below from the internet. AE follis - RIC VI, 349a Constantine I "the Great" AD 306-337 , AE follis. IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG, Laureate, cuirassed bust right / SPQR OPTIMO PRINCIPI, Three standards surmounted by hand, eagle and wreath, R Q in exergue. Rome mint, struck 312 – 313 AD = RIC VI, p. 390, 349a. (Image courtesy Antiquarica
The color is strange, and bought from a merchant at a market a coin in this condition. Just very suspicious for me. But if really, a bargain for 7 euros.
Maybe they didn't realize it was a relatively scarce type. I got a Macrianus antoninianus in an uncleaned hoard once. Somebody made a mistake and forgot to pull it out from the rest of the late roman bronze pieces.
a Macrianus wow lucky you, Seems I am lucky too, nice addition to my collection. Thanks everyone, really thought it was fake.
Which is the actual color of the coin? Reddish/rust or brownish? A few years back several coins came to market that were more red than anything else. They were referred to as "Syrian Red" as the sand in parts of Syria is red and may have affected the color of the coins found there. At one point the red colored coins were very desirable and I would assume they still are. The coin looks authentic to me, but remember we are making a judgement based on an image alone.
The color is brownish like the pictures in toppic, but more bronze translucent. Just discovered that at the moment an almost identical coin is for sale at Ma-Shops online link https://www.ma-shops.com/cgb/item.php?id=86302
Was this a market in Rome? I see nothing obvious wrong but the photos are not good enough to show anything so my main concern with the coin is that a seller in Rome should be expected to ask for than 7 Euros for the item unless he knew it was bad. If the rest of the coins in the box were so worn you wrote them off as junk, the question would be the same even if the seller knew nothing about coins. For the price, it was worth the risk. The coin on Ma-shops is quite overpriced but that is normal. Mine is lower grade but was $19. If genuine, you did quite well. I suggest showing it to anyone you trust who is more experienced than you are and buying future coins from them rather than a trader in a market.
I do agree that the style of the obverse portrait seems a little off, particularly the eye. But there was a lot of variation, so I can't condemn it outright. What is the size and weight? Any suspicious marks on the rim edge?
There are no suspicious marks on the rim edge. Weight is 3,96 g and size 21 from left to right and 22 from the top down .
