Hello everyone! I'm helping a local dealer identify some coins and I came across a coin that I'm pretty sure it is fake but I need some opinions on the piece. Pescennius Niger, Denarius, Antioch (no weight sorry) Obv. IMP CAES PESC . NIGER IVST AVG, bust facing left. Rev. VIC TO RIA . AVG Doubling in VIC and AVG on Reverse, the rim of the coin is smoothed/filled. Compared to other examples sold at auction this piece doesn't look right. Comparison (CNG): Thoughts? Second, I cannot find anything on this coin any tips or suggestions would be absolutely awesome! Thanks! Aidan
That's supposed to be a denarius of Pescennius Niger, RIC 87d, BMCRE 315, RSC 75h, RCV 6126. If genuine, that coin would be > $1000. Suspect it's a cast fake, the seam being filed down around the edge.
Letters are very mushy looking, which comes from being cast. Sharply defined struck letters that are worn still look more clear than those. Send it to David Sear or NGC if it would be a valuable coin if real. John
The Pescennius may be a cast but the original it was made from was every bit as fake as it is. The style is horrible. His coins were made from at least three mints. This was not like anything I have seen.
Second one similar to this: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1264585 If that is a MFB on the reverse then @Nicholas Molinari will know what it is.
Second coin doesn't feature a man-faced bull. I don't think it is Campanian (or Italian) for that matter. There are many coins that feature a female head paired with a regular bull. I would look around Greece proper, not Magna Graecia or Asia Minor, but all I can say for sure is not a man-faced bull.
My first thought about the second one was a Sardinian 2nd Punic war Carthaginean issue, with Tanit on the obverse and a bull on the rev. (@Alegandron has one.) I couldn't find one with Tanit facing right, but I still think it is a possibility.
Scratch that, I bet it's from Histiaia. The business going on behind the bull is a grape vine with a couple of bunches of grapes hanging from it, which is a standard depiction from this town. Obverse is the nymph Histiaia. Edit: I'm now 99.9% sure that's it. You can even see the ΣΤ under the bull.
Not sure... I am not near my SNG Cop North Africa... But here is my Carthage/Tanit/Bull: Carthage 216-215 BCE Sardinia mint AE 3.3g Tanit L - BULL stndg R CNP 377a On Carthage coins, Tanit seems to face left... and they have VERY few Bulls on their coins. EDIT: I see your retraction. Oh, and LOL, the original attribution called it a STEER on the reverse. Ummm, not according to this farm-boy... functional parts are intact and clearly visible on my coin...
