Every now and again I buy a random ancient imitation simply because I find them interesting for some reason. My first purchase was just an oddball for me. I don't normally go for first century bronze but this one looked like an imitation in good style and I was drawn in. Ancient imitation of Claudius Ae AS Obv:– TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, bare head left Rev:– CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI S-C, Constantia, helmeted and in military dress, standing left, holding long spear in left hand Minted in Rome. A.D. 41-50 Reference:- RIC 95, Cohen 14, BMC 140 The style looks a little crude and the legends lack uniformity though are quite legible. It is also light, weighing in at only 7.85 gms. The die orientation is 180 degrees. The style doesn't match that of Rome or any of the provincial mints. My second was bought with some other coins and was thrown in for less that the cost of a cup of coffee. Ancient imitation of Septimius Severus denarius Obv:- SEVERVS AVG PART MAX, laureate head right Rev:- VICT AG VG ??I, Victory advancing left, holding wreath and palm It looks like someone has cut into it in the past to attempt to verify it as silver rather than plated. I seem to have gathered a few ancient imitions of Septimius Severus over the years. Anyone else have any ancient imitations to share? Martin
I have a few Ancient Chinese imitation cowries. The firt two in the top left are real cowries. However, I feel like you are talking more about contemporary counterfeits.
One category of ancient imitation is the Barbarous Radiate of the time of the Gallic Empire in the 3rd century AD. some of these coins are so close in style to the regular issues that we might have trouble identifying them correctly. Some are so far out in left field that we are not sure what they were imitating. This one came from my coin show yesterday. It is my most 'barbarous' radiate and beyond my ability to guess which ruler or reverse type it copied. I bought it from a rather large selection of BR's because it has a characteristic I had not seen before. Crude as it is, the portrait faces left. Does anyone have a left facing barbarous radiate?
Fascinating. I'm really into imitations. They come in waves. I'm not used to Septimius Severus contemporary fakes. Do you know where it comes from?
There are many Septimius imitations including both fourree and solid coins. Tracing such coins to a region will not be easy.
As you can see from those wonderful examples from Doug above, there are some fascinating items to be found in these imitations. The third and fourth coins above look like they were the hand of the same engraver with the fourth being bare headed and something I don't recall seeing before. I have two imitations from the same obverse die as one another:- Some ugly fourees Fouree cores Some in half decent style Some that only I could love And some that are even more enigmatic to me Obv:– L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP II, laureate head right Rev:– AEQVIT AVG TR P COS II, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopia I will freely admit that I bought this coin hoping that it would be a scarce Laodicea type combined with a hybrid reverse of Pertinax. Having discussed the coin with Curtis Clay he is of the opinion that :- "I think I would consider the coin to be an ancient imitation. The style is not right for the IMP II series. That exact rev. type of Pertinax is known on authentic Alexandrian denarii of SS, but there with the obv. legend is that of 193 (probably the coin BMC and RIC refer to as hybrid), and again the coin is in different style." I am still happy with my purchase and it is still an interesting coin. Perhaps one day I will be able to find out some more about it.
Compare to my AE coin. I suspect these were never silvered but may even be money of necessity or Provincials that did not know the 'rules'. I'd love to see one with a trace of silver just to prove me wrong. You learn a lot by being wrong.
I have been staring at your coin and comparing to mine. One minute I think that they are the same die the next I think that they have differences. My eyes now hurt. Anyone willing to look at them and compare?
neato, and i dig getting a coin for the price of a drink! i have some barb radiates but they are in really poor shape...i wont sully this thread with them. is that a "scoop" on the imitative coin obverse?
The "scoop" seems to correspond to where a cutting tool has been used to cut into the coin to determine if it is solid or plated and it has dug through the coin..
Wonderful posts everyone!! I don't have any 'imitations' to share unless this fourree ----or others of the type--- of Octavian qualify.....It certainly looks 'odd' to me LOL:
