I was looking through the catalogue for CNG 491 and found this Republican denarius. The coin caught my eye because it was the same type as the one in the previous lot, but looked completely different; I can't see any discernible flow lines and the details are not as sharp. Additionally, It seems that the pits and bubble(s) (under Jupiter's leg) on the surface could be from casting. However, it's being sold by a very reputable auction house and has been in other collections, so I'm not sure if I'm coming to the wrong conclusions as I'm still definitely a novice here. What do you think about this coin and how could these imperfections be explained otherwise? Should I be worried at all about this coin?
Style is different because it's a different variety of the same issue - one variety (this coin) has hair decorated and a pedum behind the mask, the other variety (prior lot) has plain hair and no pedum. Weight is fine at 4.05g.. It appears to be a genuine, well worn example with some corrosion/porosity and maybe some delaminations.
For comparison, below is my example of the OP variety, also with hair decoration on mask and pedum behind:
CNG is one of the best sellers I trust them so much that I can close my eyes and buy from them knowing what I got is genuine. Their auctions also get vetted pretty good so anything that slip through get caught pretty fast
