Praeneste, Relief commemorating the battle of Actium, ca. 31 BCE, Rome, Vatican Museums, Rabax63, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons This 2g bronze/copper denarius is a peculiar coin, I've decided to call it a contemporary imitation but it seems remarkably official in style. I have found two similar coins in ACSearch listed as "contemporary imitation" and also 2g in weight. It imitates well a scarce Legion XII ANTIQVAE denarius - perhaps even an engraver of official issues? "Legionary issue, mint moving with Antony in Greece (Patrae?)". It remains a mystery coin for now, and I hope will reveal itself over time. Contemporary imitation of an Mark Antony denarius: 32-31 BC? AE-Denarius (bronze, 2.00g, 16x14mm). Legionary issue, mint moving with Antony, Legion XII? Obv: ANT, war galley under oar right with triple ram prow and scepter tied with fillet Rev: [XII] ANTIQ[VAE], legionary eagle (aquila) between two standards (signa) Notes: See Coins of the Second Triumvirate Post any opinions or suggestions on this coin, your coins with galleys or anything else you find interesting or entertaining.
thanks, Victor, seems like an option which still has me amazed that everything conspired to leave a decently engraved and struck, nicely aged copper coin. I guess silver layer would never have adhered and came off early….
Fourrees of Antony (legionaries and others) are relatively common. I do not know how many of his legions could be collected in fourree. When we are dealing with unofficial issues we can never assume that all have anything in common with all the other unofficial coins. My two were selected as having been made using the silver foil method but that does not mean that someone else was not making them in copper and applying a silver wash later that more easily would wash away. Considering that these coins are attributed to a 'moving mint' it is even more possible that even official issues would vary in fabric or style. There are massive numbers of plated coins from the Imperatorial period. I choose to believe that some of them were made at least semi-officially but that is not something easy to prove or disprove. I doubt that there will be a definitive work on the subject in the near future.
Thanks, Doug, for the two examples - both have great foil lines - fun that they are also on opposite sides of the coin.
Interesting piece, @Sulla80. Considering there are so many very worn solid silver examples, I'd be surprised too to see a fourree core so well preserved. There's arguably even less detail on mine. THE TRIUMVIRS. MARK ANTONY AR Denarius. 3.78g, 19.3mm. Military mint (Patrae?), autumn 32 - spring 31 BC. Crawford 544/9. O: ANT AVG above, Praetorian galley right with rowers, III VIR R P C below. R: LEG XII ANTIQVAE, Legionary eagle (aquila) between two standards (signa). Ex Andrew McCabe Collection
a nice example! @dougsmit, your post prompted me to browse your pages on the subject (Fourree, and Fourrees - Plated Coins) - as always, an excellent and insightful resource. The Campbell (1933) article that you reference is amazing for it's photos used to investigate techniques.
(Marc Antony after the defeat at Actium from the HBO series “Rome.”) Professor Barry Strauss has a new book that looks interesting. It deals with the Battle of Actium: “The War that Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium.” Here’s a recent interview with him: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022...ian-won-the-war-against-antony-and-cleopatra/
Yes. As I see the matter, the foil technique involved two circles of silver foil. One was slightly smaller that the coin diameter and the other was larger. The seam showed on the side covered by the smaller circle in the middle and by the larger one folded around the edges. In theory, the pressure of striking should have fused the foils but many times they did not. I see no suggestion that the striker cared which side was placed on the obverse. Campbell points out that sometimes but not always the area between foil and core was sprinkled with powdered eutectic which improved fusion. He showed this in his cut cross sectioned coins to good effect. The eutectic shows as lighter in the diamond shape pit on my Hadrian reverse. I paid for my copy of Campbell and never regretted it. Now it is online free and should be read by anyone with interest in fourrees.
Antony's official denarii were more base than contemporary denarii of other issuers. It may be that an imitation struck or cast in high tin bronze would have looked 'white enough' when new. A counterfeit only has to work once to be a success for its maker. This high-tin bronze scheme has been suggested by George Boon as an explanation for the cast imitations of the Severan era and later that collectors today call "limes denarii". I see no reason to suppose that such an alloy might not have been used at an earlier period or that Antony's denarii might not have been imitated well after their issue.
