Hi Fellow CTers, I recently picked up a lot of early Roman Imperatorial denarii, as discussed here With this lot came some really nice Antony, Octavian and a Lepidus denarii. The last one looks to be an Octavian Denarii, but I couldn't find an exact ID. It looks like the inscription on the reverse is MEMM? Can anyone help with an exact ID? Thanks in advance!
Apparently a hybrid of some sort, for the reverse is of the Republican moneyer L. Memmius Galeria, Roman Silver Coins Memmia 2; Crawford 313, c. 106 BC. The proper obverse was head of Saturn left with harpa, not Octavian.
Looks possibly plated, as I see some areas on both obverse and reverse where plating appears to have worn through. Would be good to know the weight and diameter. In any case, not an official coin.
There does seem evidence of plating, not at all a rare occurrence at the time. If its weight is less than 3.0 grams I would suspect it to be a fourree. If its in the 2.5 gram area I think it most likely to be. Nothing unusual about having and collecting such coins. I have a number in my collection and such coins have an interesting story of their own. Many of mine show considerable wear and must have been in circulation for some time. I'd like to know more about those scratches on his image. Cleaning marks from more recent times or somebody upset by Octavian or mad at himself for getting stuck with a forgery?
Republican coins were a significant portion of the circulating denarius supply at least until the time of Nero, and they didn't disappear from circulation until about the time of the Severans. Thus, it isn't all that unusual for an ancient counterfeiter to mix up a late Republican reverse with an early Imperial reverse, or vice versa. How often do you check both sides of your change to make sure your 1985 Washington quarter doesn't have a Hawaii reverse?
