What is this ancient?

I had an acquaintance know I do coins, and they asked me about this ancient. I am more of a modern gold guy, so told them I would ask y’all. What can you tell me about it? Approximate value? Thanks!

 

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Trajan....lQQks to be bronze..what's the weight and measurements?...

 

I’m not sure, I don’t think she is able to take weight or measurements. I thought it looked silver, and the color was just bad in the pictures. I’m not sure though.

 

ok...

 

It looks to be like (or very much like) this one which sold for $78 at auction just less than 3 years ago.

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5418542

Ancient Coins-Roman Silver
Trajan (98-117 AD), AR Denarius, 114-117 AD, 3.70g, imp caes ner traian optim avg germ dac, laureate bust right, draped, rev. parthico [p m tr p cos vi p p s] p q r, Salus seated left, feeding a serpant entwined around an alter, salvs avg (RSC 332; RIC 370), some strking edge cracks, otherwise sharply detailed, almost extremely fine.

 

...that's dang near a spot on match....(that is to say it is)...yeah..it may be as @Ryro says....from what we can gather...

 

I do believe I see signs that your friends coin is a modern forgery or repro. You may want to ask them for better pics and the measurements that @ominus1 had mentioned.

 

What are those signs? It's someone that asked me about it on facebook, that saw I collect coins. I am just trying to help them get a little info on it.

 

I agree there are signs it is a modern fake. The obverse shows casting pits and a casting seam on the left edge. If those are actually on the coin and not just in the picture, it would be a fake.

 

The asker thought it was a gold coin. I asked her to take more pics. I have to say, it does look possibly gold. Any new ideas?

 

@ominus1 @Valentinian @Ryro @philologus_1
Please check out the new pictures

 

..well now that makes a world of difference...as far as pictures go, it lQQks like a legit coin, silver denarious... weights & measures still are a requirement ifn ya wanna make sure its legit..its possibly is a die match for that coin one of our peeps here showed...but i'd bet $10 thats a legit coin jwittington

 

...haha..i noticed that hue too...i don't think it is...it might be a desert patina...or its got juandice

 

I don't have near enough experience with aurei to make any comment on authenticity, but here are type(s)* that may match:

https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=0

* (Sorry, I don't have time right now to compare legends letter-by-letter.)

 

..well from that info, they were made in that style in gold too...but idk... from the color i see now, i couldn't rule it out...but i thought it was bronze from the 1st pic...good info man

 

Wow! What a difference the new pictures make. The odd rim at 7:00-10:00 in the original obverse picture is gone. The "pit" in the nose is seems more of a discoloration. I now think it could be a genuine, worn, aureus of Trajan. I wonder what it weighs. If the weight is right, I lean toward genuine.

 

With these blurry janky photos (it's bronze or silver. Oh look now it's got a golden hue) and lack of information given make it is highly suspect.
Photos can never tell us if a coin is for sure legitimate... but they can tell us if it's a for sure fake.
I'd tell your pal to send it to David Sear if I thought it might be real. But people don't just stumble across aureii. My highly unprofessional opinion is leaning towards fake or stolen.

 

I've never seen a Trajan denarius with such sharp insciptions/legend before, this looks like a gold aureus of Trajan.

Tell the person to put it on a gram scale and take a photo of the weight from the scale.

 

The coin belongs to a lady on Facebook, who saw I dealt with coins, so asked for help. I think she may join the forum and post some more info on it. I think she said it belonged to her father.

 

..hehe...you sure you ain't from Missouri?!?..