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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 7585038, member: 75937&quot;]Very early in my coin collecting &quot;career&quot; when eBay was a new thing and the Celator was still in print, I bought this one from an eBay dealer as a &quot;Caligula and Caesonia&quot;:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/caligula-and-caesonia-fake-jpg.847662/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>After all, it looked very similar to one posted at an academic website, the <a href="http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/cml/rcape/vcrc/catalog-sidebar.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/cml/rcape/vcrc/catalog-sidebar.html" rel="nofollow">Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins</a>, maintained by Austin College:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/capture-jpg.847663/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>The coin had a &quot;soft&quot; appearance and feel to it and there were traces of a casting seam around the edge -- though I believe most of the flan was filed down -- and the whole coin had an artificial patina applied to age the coin and cover the file work on the edge.</p><p><br /></p><p>I compared the coin to that one posted on the Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins&#039; page and it was identical in flan shape and die and placement of the dies on the flan -- it was a cast copy -- the only differences being the artificial patinas that were applied to each. Both coins are forged.</p><p><br /></p><p>I confronted the dealer with this evidence and demanded (and got) a refund without returning the coin only to be sold to another sucker.</p><p><br /></p><p>I eventually bought another example -- a genuine one -- and also learned that the <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/caesonia-as-salus.318094/#post-3105729" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/caesonia-as-salus.318094/#post-3105729">coin does not actually portray Caesonia</a> at all, but a personification of Salus. Here&#039;s the real deal:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/caligula-and-caesonia-jpg.1128355/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Caligula AD 37-41.</p><p>Roman provincial Æ 28 mm, 11.17 gm.</p><p>Carthago Nova, Spain, AD 37-38.</p><p>Obv: C. CAESAR AVG. GERMANIC. IMP. P.M. TR.P. COS., laureate head of Caligula, r.</p><p>Rev: CN. ATEL. FLAC. CN. POM. FLAC. II. VIR. Q.V.I.N.C., head of Salus r., SAL AVG across field.</p><p>Refs: SGI 419; Heiss 272, 35; Cohen 247, 1; RPC 1, 185; SNG Cop 503.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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