Stack of Roman & Greek coins at local auction

310 is much more likely to be the common fake combining a Lucius Verus obverse with a Syracuse dekadrachm copy reverse. They are poor style large bronzes sold to tourists.
http://www.forgerynetwork.com/asset.aspx?id=VwfxAjBP3f0=
I'd say condition is everything but that is a lie. Being genuine is more.

 

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The top two coins are definitely the forgeries Doug mentioned. The lower coin is in fact the AP medallion, but it has the look of a reproduction. Don't quote me on it though - I really have no idea how to tell the difference. It just looks a bit too new.

I'll comment on the rest of the lots as I can, but I've had to go in to work for a bit and don't have my references, so I'll get to it later tonight.

 

The third coin is a Caracalla. Also appears to be a cast fake. See the following fakes of the type.

 

Ah well, I've confused my Antoninus Pius emperors again. Go with Doug and Martin - they're the gurus. :bow:

 

John Anthony => oooowwwww, I like that one!!

 

Thanks very much for all that - I must admit when I saw the pics I thought they did not look right. It makes me worry about the authenticity of the rest as they clearly all come from the same collection. Any thoughts on the following, which I have managed to get out of the auction website now:



Lots 307, 314 and 316 respectively.

 

The Vespian and Nero's would interest me Paddy. Have fun.

 

This is the lot with Vespasian in - still interested?

 

The Vespasian is horrible. A horrible modern concoction. The Owl is fake. I don't trust the Nero from the images. The Augustus looks believable but given the company it keeps (i.e. all the other large coins) I would be very careful.
This looks like a black cabinet mixed in with some low value worn silver and some LRB.

 

Thanks for the great advice - that was just what I needed before I went and spent a fortune on some rubbish! I will be very cautious and only bid low and on the bits I am reasonably sure about.

 

Ok I have been and bought some lots from the auction. Many I can identify, and I will show those in due course, but some I am struggling with. In response to previous comment I will post one at a time for assistance.

This one I assume is a Greek Tetradrachm, but I have very little knowledge on these - can anyone enlighten me?

 

This one is Vespasian I assume, and is in pretty poor shape, but what does the reverse depict?

 

The second coin is a Titus Denarius RIC 108, IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, laureate head right/ TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, WREATH ON CARULE CHAIR

 

What is the size and weight on the first coin?

 

Thanks Bing for the ID on the Roman. The other coin is 23mm at its widest and weighs 6.9 gms.

 

These two I think I have sorted - just sharing for the joy of it!

M Fannius - 123BC
M Cipius - 115/114 BC

 

Those last two are wonderful!

 

Nice RR coins there Paddy. The biga reverse is really nice, not that there is anything wrong with the quadriga.

 

The first coin put me inthe mind of coins from Cilicia, but two things are wrong. First, it's not large enough to be a Tet and, second, the reverse is all wrong (from what I can see). I'll keep trying.

 

Yes - I was very pleased with those two. I ended up buying five lots in all - I have sorted through 3 now. Some junk, some very nice. Still not sure if I did the wrong thing at backing out on a Pompey Sextus at about £200 including commission.

These were some of the other Silvers that I have ID'ed so far - they look better in hand than in these scans:



If I have it right:

Elagabalus with Libertas Aug reverse,
Marcus Aurelius with Felicitas Standing,
Julia Domna with Venus Felix

In the end I passed on all the larger Bronzes - some were definitely wrong, and I had sufficient doubt on the others to keep my hand in my pocket.