My First Roman Republican Coin

Hi All, Pretty excited here. Just picked up my first Roman Republican Coin. It was time to expand my horizons. I really like this coin! It has a beautiful bust on the obverse and a Chariot on the reverse. It has not been attributed yet. This is all the info I have on it :AR Denarius, Roman Republican 3.5g 18.4mm . Anyone know the Attribution? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please post any of this type you have, I would love to see them. Here's the sellers photos.

 

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It appears the silver is crystallized, but otherwise it's a fine coin. Congrats.

 

A very beautiful coin. My only advice would be to make sure you never drop it because it would probably shatter like a piece of glass.

 

Very interesting coin, @old49er ! I really like the portraiture on the Roman Republican coins! The crystallization on yours is fascinating and a testament to its antiquity!

 

I hate to say it but I feel there is something seriously wrong with the style of this coin and I think it is wholly modern. May I ask where you purchased it?

 

Here are some genuine examples for comparison. The style of Roma does seem a bit off...

(I am not an expert, but red_spork definitely is.)

 

clik pics here for more comparison ... http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s0085.t.html

 

Compare the rendering of Roma's chin and lips on the OP coin with the 79 examples listed in Severus Alexander's research on ACSEARCH. Unfortunately, not a single one of the 79 examples is stylistically similar to the OP coin.

In fact, the OP coin's rendering of Roma looks more similar to a Greek coin than to a Roman coin, to my eye.

If this were my coin, I would be uncomfortable with its authenticity, and would return it to the seller for a refund.

 

What I don't like about it is the heavy pitting and what seems to be an oversized flan more evident on the obverse.

 

This is my thinking as well. The style is more similar to the "Spearhead" issues that were engraved probably by local celators in Apulia but those were minted half a century before this during the Second Punic War.

 

I have one of these. My description follows. I do not like the surface pits. I would not say it is cast, but cast pieces can have surface bubbles. My pics are from the seller's catalog.

Roman Republican denarius, 150 BC, Rome
Spurius Afranus or SAFRA (otherwise unknown cogmomen) – It is interesting that earlier numismatists Babelon and Grueber give the moneyer the name Spurius Afranus and later ones like Crawford and Sear do not split the letters.
Obv – helmeted head of Roma, R; behind X = mark of value = 10 asses
Rev – Victory driving a biga, R; below SAFRA; in ex – ROMA with archaic A
Cr 206/1
Grueber – Rome 670
Sear – 85
RSC / Bab – Afriana 1
Syd – 388
3.85 grams, 17 mm, EF
Ex Tom Cederlind sale 169, 5/30/13; this is a relatively early auction purchase for me. It was before I bought Crawford.

 

Hi, You think its a fake then. I bought it from https://www.ebay.com/usr/ancient_kingdoms?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754 I thought it would be authentic with the flan being crystalized. I guess I wrongly assumed I could tell an ancient coin from a modern counterfeit. I bought 6 coins from them. they all looked authentic to my untrained eye. Care to take a look at the others ? I have a 14 day refund window.

 

177 rating on an ebayer is way too low for my taste especially for ancients

 

Here's the others I purchased from this seller. Do these look authentic? Thanks for the feedback everyone , I appreciate your thoughts and comments. I'm a greenhorn when it comes to Ancients!

 

If you google "ancient_kingdoms" this link will come up: http://augustuscoins.com/ed/fakesellers.html . This seller has been a known fakeseller for over a year now so I am that much more confident that this coin is a forgery. I also spoke with a much more experienced RR collector who echoed many of my concerns.

If you want to buy authentic coins, I cannot recommend enough sticking with good dealers and not buying from random eBay sellers. I would treat any coin purchased from this seller as a fake and demand a refund.

 

Thank You red_spork . I will initiate a full refund then. I guess this is a lesson well learned. I really appreciate your feedback! Guess I will stick with JA and Vcoins then, Or other sellers on this Ancient Forum. I really was excited, this is a bit of a let down. But I have learned a valuable lesson. Thanks again!

 

Sooooooooo sorry for you!

 

good one..well done..

 

now, if l look again..it is suspicious..

 

Well, I got a full refund at least! Now I can buy some authentic pieces. The seller wasn't too happy, saying he is being stigmatized for making a couple mistakes selling fakes. I thought about not buying Ancient coins any more...But I love Ancient coins and I have come to the conclusion that this is a learning curve for me. Live and learn and move on with this great hobby.