I decided to post this 'specimen' here instead of the current Fouree thread since it is in all probability a rather environmentally damaged debased Silver denarius...and please excuse the photos, they are the best I can do.. The remaining legible inscription reads..."NINUS PIUS..." and the reverse seems to depict 'Liberalitas, holding a tablet (tessara) and cornucopiae...I assume the portrait is of Antoninus Pius---and it seems to resemble him somewhat---but Caracalla and Elagabalus appear to have used those 'Titles/names' as well. The pitting and damage reveal to the eye a very dark and non-silver center, suggesting a debased coin, but at this early stage (i.e. Antoninus Pius??). Of course, it could be a debased coin of at least that time-frame as Nero seems to have started that quite successfully decades earlier (LOL)......or a fouree---What do you think???? (
So, I assume it is a badly damaged debased silver denarius of Caracalla that was to be replaced by his reformed coinage of the silver Antonininus....
looks like some one drop it down the garbage disposal and ran for a bit. could we get a picture of the edge of the coin.
I tried, but couldn't get the camera to focus on the edge---it's THIN...extremely light, maybe 2/3 the weight of a typical denarius---undamaged or not. It was among a group of 'freshly out of the ground' uncleaned 'bronze' coins i purchased many, many years ago.....and has been languishing in my 'junk' drawer ever since...
The coin commemorates the public donatives of Caracalla where he passed out money to citizens. He did this several times over his reign but the coins had a Roman numeral at the end of the reverse legend telling which. Coins with BRIT on the obverse could be VI - VIII but the portrait makes me think it more likely to be VIII. Just a guess. Denarii were issued simultaneously with antoniniani under Caracalla but this coin is probably just before the new coin came out. I see no reason from the photos that the coin is not genuine but just so badly abused that it really is not possible to tell. In this grade, the market would not care between solid and fourree. For comparison, I'll show a later one with LIBERALITAS VIIII and GERM rather than BRIT on the obverse. Shortly after Septimius died, Caracalla redirected his efforts from Britain to Germany and changed the obverse designation.
