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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 3975732, member: 85693&quot;]First off, Happy New Year&#039;s to you all.&nbsp; I hope you have a healthy &amp; happy &amp; coin-laden 2020. </p><p><br /></p><p>At the end of 2019 I chanced on something out of my usual bottom-feeding price range.&nbsp; eBay &quot;buy it now&quot; auctions cause me a lot of anxiety - if it is a good deal, you got to act fast.&nbsp; But if it&#039;s something I know nothing about - most things, that is - I run the risk of getting a fake.&nbsp; When I spotted this auction at $49.99 buy-it-now, I thought it was worth a look:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;AUGUSTUS AR DENARIUS (27 BC - 14AD) GAIUS &amp; LUCIUS CAESARS&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>I figured it would be fake, or really, really ugly.&nbsp; I don&#039;t have a Gaius &amp; Lucius denarius, but they are abundant and there are fakes.&nbsp; The seller appeared to be reliable and had a lot of other coins, some ancients with robust buy-it-now prices.&nbsp; But this one was not Augustus - instead it was this:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1046330[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I didn&#039;t know what it was, but I thought that portrait looked like Pompey, so I started frantically ransacking the Internet for information, and the Forgery Network for fakes.&nbsp; After a few frantic minutes, I pulled the trigger.&nbsp; Here is full attribution, as I understand it:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sextus Pompey&nbsp; Denarius</b></p><p><b>(42-40 B.C.)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </b></p><p><b>Sicilian Mint</b></p><p>MAG•PIVS•IMP•ITER• , head of Pompey Magnus r. between lituus and capis / Neptune left, holding aplustre, foot on prow, with Anapias &amp; Amphinomus, parents on shoulders, [PRÆF] above, CLAS•ET•O[RÆ] / [M]ARIT•E[X• S•C•]</p><p>(3.47 grams / 16 mm)</p><p>Crawford 511/3a; Pompeia 27; Sydenham 1344; BMCRR (Sicily) 7; RSC 17 (Pompey the Great); Sear CRI 334.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think it&#039;s a genuine coin, but I am willing to be set straight.&nbsp; It has a lot of wear, but that portrait of Pompey sold me - banker&#039;s marks notwithstanding!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1046331[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Show me your Sextus Pompeys or share your buy-it-now or end-of-year stories or whatever strikes your fancy.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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