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<p>[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 3157125, member: 44316"]I have collected fourrées for thirty years. I wrote a website on them in 2002 and it has an extensive bibliography (not updated for about a decade).</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/imit/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/imit/" rel="nofollow">http://augustuscoins.com/ed/imit/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>There is very little in the literature about gold fourrées. I think they are, and were, quite rare, but we see some because some were made and they don't get destroyed.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have seen late Roman gold imitations and do not think Byzantine gold imitations are more common proportionally. The coins we call Byzantine were minted for hundreds of years, much longer than Roman solidi, and Byzantine solidi are much more common, so we would <b>expect</b> to see far more Byzantine gold imitations than Roman gold imitations, even if the relative frequency of imitations to official coins had not gone up.</p><p><br /></p><p>Keep in mind that I do not think the OP piece is ancient, so pieces like that those do not count for me. I wrote above:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I believe that when a counterfeit was discovered, it was often holed to condemn it. So, it is possible the OP piece is ancient and the holes were to condemn it. </p><p><br /></p><p>I cannot deny that there were ancient gold fourrées intended to deceive. The ones I have seen were usually significantly underweight, which could have been detected by a vigilant person who "always weighed" gold coins. So, there must have been some exceptions--some circumstances where passing bad gold for good worked. (Why do drunks gambling in a tavern come to mind?) There have always been criminals who attempt illicit gain. Many of the gold imitations we see have been holed which I thinks means they were discovered in antiquity and they still exist because the finder didn't know what to do with them other than toss them (later to be found in modern times). </p><p><br /></p><p>Here are some late Roman gold imitations from my site:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]809677[/ATTACH]</p><p>Maximian</p><p>18 mm. 5:30. 3.55 grams. (Extremely light for an aureus.)</p><p>MAXIMIA-NVS PF AVG, laureate head right</p><p> /CONCORDIA AVGG ET CAESS NNNN, Concordia seated left, holding out patera, with double cornucopia in left, AQ in exergue</p><p>Ref: RIC VI Aquileia 2b "R3", which should be c. 5.3 grams. Although the style is excellent, it is hard to imagine this fooling anyone because gold is too valuable to accept without close scrutiny (either in ancient or modern times). Lead is dense, but not nearly as dense as gold, and this piece is simply too light in the hand</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]809676[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Valentinian</p><p>20mm. 6:00. 1.98 grams (extremely light for the denomination which should weigh c. 4.45 grams.)</p><p>DN VALENTINI-ANVS PF AVG, pearl-daidemed, draped, and cuirassed bust right</p><p> /VICTOR-IA AVGG, two emperors (with Valens) seated facing, together holding a globe and behind and between them a Victory with outspread wings. Between them low, a palm branch.</p><p>In ex: TROBT</p><p>Prototype: Old Sear 4089, plate 12. RIC Trier 17b, AD 367-375.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]809675[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Constantius II</p><p>21mm. 12:00. 2.60 grams (very light -- the denomination should weigh 4.45 grams.)</p><p>Holded, probably to condemn it. Much of the gold is gone from the surface.</p><p>FL IVL CONSTAN - TIVS PERP AVG</p><p> Helmeted and curiassed bust facing, holding spear and shield, spear back across right shoulder</p><p>/GLORA REIPVBLICAE [illegible]</p><p> Roma and Constantinopolis seated, holding shield inscribed</p><p> VOT/XXX/MVLT/XXXX</p><p> The mintmark is too weak to make out. This type was minted c. 350-355 at most mints.</p><p>Old Sear 3988</p><p> I think it was pierced to condemn it as a fake.</p><p><br /></p><p> If anyone knows of any articles that discuss ancient gold imitations, let us know about them.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Valentinian, post: 3157125, member: 44316"]I have collected fourrées for thirty years. I wrote a website on them in 2002 and it has an extensive bibliography (not updated for about a decade). [url]http://augustuscoins.com/ed/imit/[/url] There is very little in the literature about gold fourrées. I think they are, and were, quite rare, but we see some because some were made and they don't get destroyed. I have seen late Roman gold imitations and do not think Byzantine gold imitations are more common proportionally. The coins we call Byzantine were minted for hundreds of years, much longer than Roman solidi, and Byzantine solidi are much more common, so we would [B]expect[/B] to see far more Byzantine gold imitations than Roman gold imitations, even if the relative frequency of imitations to official coins had not gone up. Keep in mind that I do not think the OP piece is ancient, so pieces like that those do not count for me. I wrote above: I believe that when a counterfeit was discovered, it was often holed to condemn it. So, it is possible the OP piece is ancient and the holes were to condemn it. I cannot deny that there were ancient gold fourrées intended to deceive. The ones I have seen were usually significantly underweight, which could have been detected by a vigilant person who "always weighed" gold coins. So, there must have been some exceptions--some circumstances where passing bad gold for good worked. (Why do drunks gambling in a tavern come to mind?) There have always been criminals who attempt illicit gain. Many of the gold imitations we see have been holed which I thinks means they were discovered in antiquity and they still exist because the finder didn't know what to do with them other than toss them (later to be found in modern times). Here are some late Roman gold imitations from my site: [ATTACH=full]809677[/ATTACH] Maximian 18 mm. 5:30. 3.55 grams. (Extremely light for an aureus.) MAXIMIA-NVS PF AVG, laureate head right /CONCORDIA AVGG ET CAESS NNNN, Concordia seated left, holding out patera, with double cornucopia in left, AQ in exergue Ref: RIC VI Aquileia 2b "R3", which should be c. 5.3 grams. Although the style is excellent, it is hard to imagine this fooling anyone because gold is too valuable to accept without close scrutiny (either in ancient or modern times). Lead is dense, but not nearly as dense as gold, and this piece is simply too light in the hand [ATTACH=full]809676[/ATTACH] Valentinian 20mm. 6:00. 1.98 grams (extremely light for the denomination which should weigh c. 4.45 grams.) DN VALENTINI-ANVS PF AVG, pearl-daidemed, draped, and cuirassed bust right /VICTOR-IA AVGG, two emperors (with Valens) seated facing, together holding a globe and behind and between them a Victory with outspread wings. Between them low, a palm branch. In ex: TROBT Prototype: Old Sear 4089, plate 12. RIC Trier 17b, AD 367-375. [ATTACH=full]809675[/ATTACH] Constantius II 21mm. 12:00. 2.60 grams (very light -- the denomination should weigh 4.45 grams.) Holded, probably to condemn it. Much of the gold is gone from the surface. FL IVL CONSTAN - TIVS PERP AVG Helmeted and curiassed bust facing, holding spear and shield, spear back across right shoulder /GLORA REIPVBLICAE [illegible] Roma and Constantinopolis seated, holding shield inscribed VOT/XXX/MVLT/XXXX The mintmark is too weak to make out. This type was minted c. 350-355 at most mints. Old Sear 3988 I think it was pierced to condemn it as a fake. If anyone knows of any articles that discuss ancient gold imitations, let us know about them.[/QUOTE]
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