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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 1777384, member: 42773&quot;]Well friends, here&#039;s a positively awful looking fouree denarius, but I found the piece intriguing for the added dimension of being a mule.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s9.postimg.org/w74mftv4v/fouree4.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Vespasian. A.D. 69-79. fouree denarius (2.85 g, 19.5 mm). CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS..., laureate head right / TR POT IMP II COS VIII DES VIIII PP, Fortuna standing left, holding rudder and cornucopia. cf. RIC 141, RSC 610.</i></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Although this variation of Fortuna is found on the coins of Vespasian, the reverse legend belongs to Domitian. The consulship places the minting of this denarius at or after the year 82, simply because the reverse legend would not have existed before then.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>We&#039;ve had discussions about fouree denarii before, and it&#039;s fascinating to consider the various reasons they exist, but I&#039;m more intrigued by mules. Of course I can&#039;t prove it, but I like to think this coin has nefarious origins - somebody stole a pair of dies (who cares if they go together, nobody will notice) and went about increasing their purse.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The penalties for counterfeiting in ancient Rome were pretty severe, and they usually involved some sort of grotesque death: burning at the stake, being fed to the beasts, that sort of thing. So it&#039;s both fascinating and macabre to consider that some of the &quot;forged&quot; coins in our collections may have once been paid for by life and limb.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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