Let's have some fun fouree while/ Plated pile on!

Here's an ugly little one I couldn't resist for a few quid.

 

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Really neat set of fourrées with their solid counterparts, @Ryro.

Here's one I won back in July, but only just reached me earlier this week.


CALABRIA, Tarentum
Fourrée Stater. 5.43g, 21.4mm. Contemporary imitation copying CALABRIA, Tarentum, circa 281-272. Vlasto –, but cf. 769 (for obverse). O: Nude youth on horseback left, crowning horse; |-I above, ΙΩΠΥΙ and a squatting satyr below. R: Dolphin rider left, holding Nike and sceptre; below, prow left.
From a Swiss collection from Tessin assembled in the 1920s

 

I don't have the solid version for that one. Would be pricey I guess


Marcus Antonius, Fourree denarius - Minted at Athens, 32 BC
ANTON AVG IMP III COS DES III III V R P C, bare head of Mark Antony right
ANTONINVS / AVG IMP III in two lines
3,52 gr
Ref : RCV # 1478, HCRI # 347, RSC # 2, Cohen # 2

Q

 

One of the first (and tiniest) fourees:

Ionia. Ephesos
circa 600-550 BC.
1/48 Stater EL fourrée
3mm., 0,15g.
Lion's paw / Incuse punch.
nearly very fine
Karwiese series I / Type 1 (for prototype).

 

All silver gone Victoriatus AE core...


RR Anon AE Victoriatus after 218 BCE Rome mint Ex RBW Anon Jupiter Victory crowning trophy Craw 44-1 Syd 83 Sear 49 Fouree

 

Septimius Severus fouree denarius

Obv:– SEVERVS PIVS AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:– RESTITVTOR VRBIS, Roma seated left on shield holding victory and reversed spear
Minted in Rome. A.D. 202-210
Reference:– cf. RIC 288

Section of core visible at about 1 o'clock on the reverse



Solid examples

 

Septimius Severus Barbarous denarius (fouree core)

Obv:- IMP CAE L SEP SEVRTIVS COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:- VICT AVG, Victory walking left, holding wreath in right hand, palm in left
Copying a coin minted in Emesa. A.D. 194 - 195
Ref:– copying RIC IV 424



copies

Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SEV PERT AVG COS II, Laureate head right
Rev:– VICT AVG, Victory walking left, holding wreath in right hand, palm in left
Minted in Emesa, A.D. 194 - 195
References:– BMCRE 395, RIC 424, RSC 675a

 

Barbarous Fouree Severus Alexander denarius Based on MARS VLTOR
Obv:– IMP SVE AL[...] AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:– MARS VLTOR, Mars advancing right, holding a spear and shield



Copies (sort of)

Severus Alexander denarius
Obv:– IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG, Laureate head right
Rev:– MARS VLTOR, Mars advancing right, holding a spear and shield
Minted in Rome, A.D. 232
References:– RIC 246, RSC 161a

 

It's common for ancient fouree forgeries to have the reverse of one ruler muled to the obverse of another. This fouree of Orbiana, for example, is a mule between an obverse of Orbiana and a reverse of her mother-in-law:



Genuine Orbiana:



Genuine Julia Mamaea:



This may represent merely the effect of only having certain dies on hand. Alternatively, it may have been deliberate on the part of the forgers because it allowed them to identify their handiwork and avoid taking it as the genuine article if encountered in circulation.

 

@Ryro - a nice thread and lots of interesting coins shown - here's my favorite fourré: an elephant of Julius Caesar.


@dougsmit - the rotating image of the 1/2 New Style tetradrachm is fabulous.

 

For many years I failed to find a fourree of the COSII group but then found this piece matching that shown by maridvnvm. I remain unconvinced that this was a fourree and have not seen one with plating remaining. There would seem to be a possibility that it was a Provincial AE not intended to fool anyone into thinking it was a denarius. I consider it noteworthy whenever we find more than one surviving example of an unofficial coin. Many seem to be one of a kind but that may just mean that owners of others consider them trash and not worthy of record.

There are many fourrees of Septimius Severus mostly copying types of the Rome mint or being wholly original not to mention an at least equal number of unofficial coins made of solid (but debased) silver alloy. The whole matter of the denarius coinage of this period other than that from Rome needs to be studied in depth by someone with a lifetime to devote to that pursuit and access to the material. However, prejudice against 'strange' coins means the material is not as well preserved in the great museum collections so a full study of this type does not strike me as likely in this century. We will be lucky if someone sorts out the Syrian mess or expands what we know about the Alexandrian coinage.

Among my fourrees (a speck of silver remains in the obverse left field) is one most strange using the obverse legend of Clodius Albinus, facial features of Septimius Severus but with a bare head and a reverse type and legends of Commodus. Studying something that abides to no rules is at best very difficult.

That is a fact. Less certain is why. Some will assume it is just a matter of ignorance on the part of the maker. I retain, in the back of my head, a theory that makers of bad coins intentionally made they recognizable to people in the know but not obvious to the people they were trying to fool. 'Why' is never an easy question and most guesses (certainly including mine) are colored by our modern assumptions that bear no significance when trying to understand the minds of the makers.

 

Me too!

 

Roman Empire Fourees


RI Fouree Denarius Severus Alexander with Annona Avg reverse



RI Julia Domna 194-217 Fouree AR Plated Den Isis Horus