I received my first ancient coin from a friend. He told me that it was a Plebis coin and appears to be bronze or perhaps copper. It is in bad shape with some detail on the obverse with nothing on the reverse. Does anyone know what the coin is?
Even though "there is nothing on the reverse" it is best to show it anyway. What's the size of this coin? I'm guessing it's rather small, perhaps 10 mm-ish. It's probably a barbarous imitation, a "barbarous radiate" imitating certain late Roman bronzes. Many of those imitations are around the time of and style of Claudius II and Tetricus but I'm not sure which emperor yours imitates. Maybe someone else with more familiarity of these type will weigh in. Meanwhile, measure and weigh your coin and post that info here along with a picture of the reverse. You can also search CoinTalk (and other places on the internet) for info on these ancient imitations.
I've been searching the internet but no luck yet. Thought I ask the professionals on here as there always seems to be someone who is a collector of coins that I'm not collecting. The coin weighs 2.55-grams, is non magnetic, and is rectangular with rounded edges (16-mm x 13-mm). For what it is worth, here is a picture of the reverse.
It's modeled after a double denarius of Tetricus I, emperor of the "Gallic Empire" of modern day France and England from 271-274. Need better pictures to ID the reverse type. It could well be an official coin, or perhaps a "barbarous radiate" or unofficial coin made at a makeshift mint or even a blacksmith's shop. There are roughly equal numbers of official and unofficial coins, and they are often hard to tell apart. The theory goes that after Tetricus surrendered to Aurelian, the new Roman emperor failed to supply the fringes of the empire with enough coin for daily commerce, so they had to make their own. It seems probable that the penalty for forging the coinage of a fallen rebel emperor was much less than the penalty for forging coins of a sitting emperor known for his wrath. For comparison, here is my official Tetricus I Coins of Gallic emperors are easy to tell apart because except for Marius and Tetricus Jr (who was like 9 years old), they all have long curly hair and a pointed beard whereas most Roman emperors had a military cut and a carefully groomed beard.
Thanks for the information. I went on-line and found the below information. I also now know what billon means (bronze base with silver coating). It is worth $169 in AU graded by NGC and probably less than a buck in P-1 with no grade. Your coin is very nice with lots of detail. https://www.moderncoinmart.com/roma...denarius-of-tetricus-i-ad-271-274-ngc-au.html
I certainly hope no one is lured into paying $169 for that coin!! Below are currently listed retail offerings for coins of Tetricus (I didn't sort barbarous from official-- only searched for "Tetricus") on Vcoins, a conglomerate of ancient coin dealers. Four hundred and forty-two coins at the moment. https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.as...cords=100&SearchOnSale=False&Unassigned=False You can get them for even less than the "retail" prices represented by the Vcoins sellers. Here's an eBay search for ancient coins of Tetricus, for instance.
You do have one thing right. Your coin is worth less than a dollar. The MCM coin is nicer than most so worth about 50-100 times as much as yours. When we see sellers trying to rip off unknowing beginners we just shake our heads and hope people do not hold such actions against the hobby as a whole.
I do not believe that you are correct there. What you have stated more accurately describes a "Fourree". It is my belief that "Billon" usually refers to the 'base metal' of a coin that may have a smattering of silver (and other metals) in it. The dictionary defines "Billon" as:- . . . an alloy formerly used for coinage, containing gold or silver with a predominating amount of copper or other base metal
A few points about these coins: 1) Dealers - especially those who mostly deal with overpriced 19th century US coins - will charge all sorts of crazy prices for common ancient coins. Even slabbed and certified AU, that coin is worth maybe $20-30. 2) Due to the conditions of the mint and the general chaos of the time, a pristine (fully struck, centered, and engraved in good style) antonianus of Tetricus I would be worth a substantial premium to a dedicated collector. Mine is nowhere close, but I only paid like $5 for it. 3) Billon is technically any silver alloy where the silver content is under 50%, but the silver is there deliberately. All ancient bronze coins are going to have traces of all sorts of metals in them, but the Romans were very good at controlling the metallurgy of their coins. In this period of time, the mint would "surface enrich" the coins, i.e. soak them in acid to dissolve out some of the copper to make the coin *look* silver. For example, this Gallienus is a billon coin of less than 30% fine, but it looks bright and flashy During the early 270s the silver content dipped so low (under 3%) that it was almost impossible to maintain the illusion of silver. Aurelian standardized the antoninianus at 4.76% fine (20:1 silver to copper, indicated by XXI or KA on the coin) - these can look more presentably silvered:
