The coin type is quite interesting from several standpoints. First, The coin is slightly bent, yet the coin is too thick to be bent easily. So I tell my self it came from the mint like that.To the naked eye this coin yields the appearance of a VF, silver rich, appealing, highly reflective surface. This was enough for me to look closer.Under high magnification the truth was made known. It's FAKE! Yup that's right, soft markings that I thought might be a product of bad photography and toning was in fact, Cupric material bleeding through the place on the coins surface where it had been plated. Under magnification I was able to determine that the green cupric material is not a deposit on the a silver surface. The silver denarius at this time in Roman history was greater than 90% pure with relative certainty. There would not be enough copper in the coin to turn green over time and eventually penetrate the surface for this to be real. Judging by the color of the copper material, the corrosion is not active in the BD sense. The coin is clearly of the correct weight at 3.86 grams in this apparent state of preservation. In fact it is a very carefully made and probably semi official Issue. Now when I say semi official, I mean the coin was made with official dies and mostly likely by someone stealing from mint. WOW! Second, The coin type is very cool. It features the "usual" bust of Roma right wearing a winged helmet. The legend ROMA the monogram (XVI) meaning 16 Asses. Clearly stating the denomination. The letters EX SC tells us it was made under special decree of the Senate, and the coin was authorized by a Queastor rather than a Moneyer. In this case the coin says M.Sergius Silus. Third, the type has an interesting reverse! The horse rider carries a sword and the head of a Gallic Warrior in the same hand. Very neat and rather graphic. Gotta love antiquity. Modeled after the ancestor of the Queastor who is said to have been wounded 23 times and lost his right arm and continued to battling Carthage in the Punic War. The description should probably read... Ancient Forgery Roman Republic M.Sergius Silus s. 115/116 BC Fouree Denarius 19 mm x 3.86g Obverse: Helmeted Head of Roma Right- ROMA - XVI monogram behind. EX. S.C. in front. Reverse: Hero on Horseback with Sword and Gallic Head Shield behind. Q left lower field. SERGI below, SILVS in ex. Ref: Host Coin: Crawford 286/1.
A neat piece. I have always liked and wanted this type, but its popular so it tends to be priced for demand too.
Very Cool...and I love your clarifications...and some fourees were official and others were the usual product of greed and scheming
Hello Mikey, welcome to CT. I'm not sure you can draw the distinction between "official" and "greed and scheming," however. For a fascinating read on Roman minting technology, see this paper at academia.edu. It's clear throughout Roman history (and human history for that matter) that maximizing revenue has always been official policy in any and every government ever invented. Greed and scheming are simply par for the course.
Very cool Masternoob, love this new coin, i have a few of these fourree coins and the mystery of how they came to be is fascinating.
I agree, I too have always loved the graphic types. Looking at a few for sale I realized that it is indeed priced for popularity. Some people describe the piece as rare but judging how many are for sale in a variety of conditions I strongly doubt that claim. This one was by far the cheapest and the person accepted a very low offer. Thus it is mine. Considering it ended up being an ancient fake, I am still very happy with the ratio of satisfaction to price. Thanks all for taking the time to look at the piece. I tried very hard to photograph the piece, with accuracy concentrated on the true apparent color under a fluorescent lamp, photographed against good card stock.
Late to the party. Nice pickup Anoob. Like the others, I keep my eye peeled for one within my budget. I'd take this one, ancient fake or not (but it certainly could have fooled me).
Cool fouree, Noob ... ... sadly, I don't have a fouree or a real-ee to toss into your thread!! Cheers
Experts will tell you that fourrees were never made at the mint or 'semi officially'. They will also tell you that the better styled fourrees were made by making mechanical copy dies. I do not believe them. I have two examples of this coin. IMHO the fourree has a bit better style but that is just my opinion. Fourree 2.3g Solid 3.6g
