hi, I'm new here. I signed up because I'm looking for some information on a 'tribute penny' that the wife dug up years ago on the beach. I have no weighed it (I don't have a scale for that). I've looked around recently at pictures of real ones and fake ones. There appears to be piting on the surface. But again, some things look authentic. I am looking for more advice from folks that do this much more than I do. Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Welcome @LieutenantFF. These "Tribute Pennies" are often faked. Can you crop your image so we can get a better look? Also, what is the weight and diameter?
I just did a quick look at FAC's fake coin reports here: forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=67 This one looks suspiciously close, but I can't be certain. There are others here much more qualified to answer your questions Here is a fake I purchased years ago followed by an authentic example Fake Authentic
Bing, thank you. That's the post I looked and saw those exact photos. That's what's makes me think it's a fake. But again, I'm just a firefighter, not a coin expert!
Welcome @LieutenantFF , you mentionedyour wife dug up years ago on the beach. You did not say where the beach is located. If you were in Italy, the chance would be better than in the US. You can look at a few hundred examples here: https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...1&ot=1&images=1¤cy=usd&order=0&company= I did not see one that matched yours. There were many dies and some were close to yours, but I think it looks a bit off, especially the reverse lettering.
That one is very close. On all of the authentic coins, the item in his hand is always at an angle closer to 90 degrees than what my coin and along with the coin you just posted. Is that one authentic or faked?
What beach? Where? If you can provide this information it would be very helpful. It is very, very unlikely that a genuine silver "Tribute Penny" denarius would be accidentally found on a beach anywhere. Possibly a beach in Italy -- ancient Ostia, Naples -- but even in Italy, there are thousands of forgeries of this coin. The coin itself looks "soft" -- the type of softness that is indicative of a cast fake. But the pictures you posted aren't sharp enough to draw any firm conclusions, and even with sharper pictures, a reasonably accurate weight would be necessary to increase the confidence in any fake/non-fake assessment. (Genuine examples of these coins generally weigh 3.4g. - 3.8g.) Stylistically, Tribute Pennies span a great range of obverse portraiture and reverse images; your example seems to fall within that range, but since this coin is so often faked, most fakes exhibit reasonably accurate style. So in summary: more information (where, how, and when was it discovered); sharper pictures, and a reasonably accurate size and weight are required to make a better-educated guess as to authenticity.
Ok. So weight is 4.05g Also. My wife found it with her dad 15+ years back on a beach in South Carolina with the help of a metal detector. Right this second. I don't have any way to take a clearer picture as my iPhone 6 did the best it could. Also. The attached picture, the dime is sitting on top of the penny. You can barely see the edge on 2 sides. So a dime is listed as 17.91mm and my coin is just barely bigger than that, maybe 18mm at the widest point
Going through CNGs archives I didn't see one over 4 grams. I also find it highly unlikely to find a real tribute penny on a beach in the US but you never know someone could've dropped it.
I'm not worried! I appreciate all the help. It will go back into the safe and let it sit for awhile! Never know, it may turn real on 20 more years
Good point. I missed this anomalous feature the first time I viewed the obverse of this coin. Solid (rather than dotted) rims almost never appear on first century Roman imperial coins. This, coupled with the discovery on a beach in South Carolina (pretty much not within the boundaries of the first-century Roman empire) pretty much insure this coin is a fake.
