Hi, all. A few questions for those with the ancient inclination. first, a have a denarius of caracalla (at least, i think it's caracalla) which i need help identifying. inscriptions read as follows: obv -- ANTONIVS ... AVGVSTVS rev -- VIRTV...S... AVGG (virtus standing left holding victory and inverted spear)(gap btw V & S is the figure of victory) from what i can tell, PIVS is not worn from the obverse, so the proper inscription is antonius augustus. this is listed in combination with VIRTVS AVGG, but only with the antionius pius obverse legend. the antonius augustus is listed with a VIRT AVGG reverse legend, but the "V...S" on my coin is as plain as day. anything i'm missing? my library is small, so i don't have access to the RIC or similar. i have Van Meter and online sources like wildwinds. any help is appreciated. btw, if anyone has van meter, i'm looking at p. 198, nos. 105-108. also, i'm wondering if this coin isn't a forgery. does anyone have any good links which might help me? size, weight, color seem right, but the appearance of the obverse seems a bit "off," and the wear pattern seems odd. wish i could post a picture, but i'm helpless with cameras. everyone's help is greatly appreciated. and not to kiss up, but just because i've never said it before: thanks, everybody. i might not post to this forum very often, but i read every day. it's one of my favorite spots on the web, and i appreciate being able to go somewhere where people share my passion for coins, and learn something new every time i log in. V.
Is this it? http://www.beastcoins.com/RomanImperial/IV-I/Caracalla/Z5128.jpg Caracalla, AR Denarius, 200-201, Laodicea ad Mare ANTONINVS-AVGVSTVS Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right, seen from behind VIR_T-AVGG Virtus, helmeted, standing facing, head left, right breast exposed, Victory on globe in right hand, reversed spear in left RIC IV, Part I, 354 (S) SOURCE: http://www.beastcoins.com/RomanImperial/IV-I/Caracalla/Caracalla.htm
RIC lists a variant to #50 (Rome Mint) with obv: M ANTONINVS-AVGVSTVS with the rev. you mention. Of course while RIC is extensive, there is still a fair amount of stuff not listed in it. If no camera, maybe you or a friend can scan the coin?
wow, so i just figured out how to work my scanner to take reasonable pics. go figure. at any rate, here they are. coin looks much better in hand, but still fairly worn, etc. thoughts? V.
I'm not expert, but it does kind of have a look that makes me think Fouree. Might want to post it on Ancients.info so Barry or Zach (Beast) can give it a look. Maybe Drusus will know more, I'm sure he'll be along sometime soon.
maybe try this site http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=432&pos=0
I see Curtis Clay gave you an answer on Ancients.info. He's a full time pro for HJB so I'd trust his answer for sure.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, anemic. it's actually a pretty cool find, despite being a fake -- an ancient counterfeit isn't too bad. luckily i didn't pay too much for it. i imagine i'll keep it in my collection. carefully labelled, of course! V.
thanks! it's pretty interesting to picture an ancient counterfeiting workshop converting a small supply of silver foil into a phony fortune. i wonder how long it stayed in circulation -- wonder if anyone ever noticed that it was bad metal? any leads for good internet resources re: fourees and other ancient fakes? V.
None off the top of my head. Searching Ancients.com & Forumancientcoins.com for 'Fouree' will bring up quite a few threads on them. There are a few books I think, but I can't think of the titles.
Yeah...you get some really circulated forees. In 16th century ireland, fake coins circulated for a 12th of their value ! http://www.moonmoth.demon.co.uk/unique_coins.html
