The Devil made me do it!!

Nice!! ... that's a very cool fourree, Mikey-Z (congrats, coin-bro)



Ummm, sorry but I just can't help myself ...

=> here are my only fourree examples (all of them are "obvious")

Fourree, Kings of Macedon, Philip III ($72, delivered)
323-317 BC




Fourree, Baktria, Indo-Greek, Hermaios ($150, delivered)
105-90 BC
... meh, I got happy trigger-finger



Fourree, Nicephorus-II Phocas with Basil-II
=> aka "Zombie Jesus" ($106, delivered)
963-969 BC
*edit* .... oops, I almost forgot one (thanks Doug)



... pretty fricken cool though, eh? (ancient counterfeits)

 

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Those interested in what I have to say on fourrees may visit my several pages on the subject but those more interested in saying you are too good to have them will not be interested in learning how you might spot the ones with little or no core exposure. Recently, I have seen people paying way too much for them but the fact remains that most are considerably more rare than the coins hey copied and probably made up significant parts of the coins circulating in some periods. There are RR issues that are much more often seen in fourree than others. Experts have all the answers but I never trust anyone who has all the answers without understanding the question. Those who do not study fourrees are most in danger of being folled by them.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fourree.html
Not all are silver over copper.


Some are even silver underneath. I wanted one of these a long time before I found this one.


On two separate occasions I have reported a die duplicate coin to the fourree below that shows no core but weighs less than mine. Both times the auction removed the coin. I have not seen it for a long time so I suspect it was sold to someone. I wonder if they know. That coin shows the date OE in exergue (off flan on mine). I really wonder what ever happened to it.

 

Thank you everyone for the cool posts and interesting comments!!

I also recommend anyone desiring to research fourree's further to click on Doug's link.

I may or may not purchase another example this year, but I'm still missing any from the 'Greek World'....

 

Doug's link is very informative, as always.

 

Doug’s fourée pages are indeed quite good. In his discussion of RR fourées he writes, “During this period the purity of metal and weight was kept to a high standard so it is possible that mint expenses were offset by production of a percentage of these ‘special’ pieces.” This reminds me of a passage in David Hendin’s Guide to Biblical Coins, third edition. On pages 208-209, Hendin writes about an unusual coin--a VITELLIUS Judea Capta. It is a fourée, but he argues that Vitellius must’ve struck genuine versions of these coins because it would make no sense to strike a Vitellius coin of this type after Vespasian became emperor given Vitellius’s unpopularity.

At any rate, what is at issue here is his theory on fourées: “I think it far more likely, however, that most fourée denarii, especially those with thick silver coatings from this and later periods were actually manufactured in the official mint. The king’s [Emperor’s?] treasurers expected a certain number of coins to be issued for each specify quantity of silver (or gold) given over to the mint, providing two possible explanations for the existence of these coins. First, that an unscrupulous mintmaster or senior worker stole silver and made up for the loss by issuing a certain number of these coins. Second, that because of the uncertainties of exact size and weight of ancient coins there were simply shortages that had to be made up for. It would have been quite simple to toss three or four fourée coins into every thousand that issued from the mint. This probably would not have been noticed for many years.” 209