Your thoughts on this Nero dupondius

I like the color. It’s in my price range. Does indicate an old cleaning in the description. Approx $120. Brutal truth appreciated.

 

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That's a beauty right there. And $120 certainly seems fair to me. I say go for it Johnnie!

 

It has something in the eye socket that might just be wax and might look better if removed. Each collection should include a yellow orichalcum coin with no patina just to demonstrate how these looked when current. Mine has the radiate crown and II in exergue while yours relied on the yellow color to tell the denomination.

 

Not sure. I purchased this coin a couple of years ago that turned out to be fake:


I sent it off to David Sear who identified that it was not authentic. I did obtain a refund

 

Nice coin, it's just the way it's been cleaned. I have a similar over cleaned or patina striped Nero Dupondius I think it may have had a black patina at one stage.

 

..a dupondius w/o the crown?.. looks like real coin to me, but i'm no expert. i do have a Nero dupondius but didn't know i did till dougsmit told me it was. Nero ae coins are i guess my favorite...

 

If memory serves, @Johnnie Black, I purchased this dupondius for slightly less than what you mention....so I think the OP is offered at a fair price for a popular emperor

 

@Johnnie Black Here is one of those with a nice patina and I think a nicer portrait anyway for a bit less money:https://www.ma-shops.com/franz/item.php5?id=602436&lang=en But I am kinda crazy about patinas Actually I an not usually interested in Nero until I read about a Talmudic legend about him recently but the more I look at this here coin the more it appeals to me also. I better stop looking while I still have gas money in my pocket. It does have a die break but it screams authenticity. His hair is wild like in the OP.

 

Until the later Flavians, there was inconsistency in terms of the crown on dupondii. It was no problem then since the yellow brass was very distinct from the red copper used for the as but both look the same with patina of 2000 years. ominus1 has a trace of the radiate crown and clear II in exergue so we know it is a dupondius without seeing bare metal. My coin below is also a dupondius but the green patina, lack of crown and no II make that a bit harder to see.

 

Researching this coin on ACSEARCH finds plenty of examples without the radiate crown. To my eye it appears to be genuine.

There are ample features to recommend this coin:

- The obverse is well centered
- Obverse legends are generally readable so attribution should be straightforward
- Nero's portrait is very recognizable with reasonable detail left in the hair
- Reverse centering is decent with most of legend readable
- Surfaces are reasonably good without excess pitting and corrosion

Personally, I think the OP coin is a MUCH better coin than this one from Franz.

As for price, doing some research on CNG, VCoins, and ACSEARCH is the best way to find comps, but a cursory review of ACSEARCH's results would indicate that $120 is a fair -- even a good -- price for this coin.

 

Well- I am just on a steep learning curve here. Please tell me why it is MUCH better. Is the die break a very big deal?

 

The Franz coin exhibits an extremely flat strike with little or no detail remaining in the obverse and reverse devices. The surface is rough and has been aggressively smoothed to minimize pitting. There may be some tooling on the reverse as well.

 

Thanks, good to know. I see how the bust is very flat and I just thought that was circulation wear but can see now how the entire surface may be smoothed down compared to the relief on the OP coin. The tooling I do not get- do you mean on the legend?

 

I have the same coin. The orichalcum used in these coins gives them a bright yellow appearance, even when heavily worn. These coins did not always have a radiate head as later dupondii did. The brassy coloration clearly denoted the denomination as opposed to the coppery as and the bronze sesterius. They also had a pretty wide flan but were fairly thin. The Neronic sesterii were not much larger in flan but were noticeably thicker and heavier. There is Nero sestertius with the same laureate head and the SECVRITAS reverse but the darker bronze and heavier weight clearly reveal the coin to be a sestertius, not the similar but lighter in color and weight dupondius. Your coin is a very nice one and I would have paid a bit more to have added it to my collection, if I did not already have it. Nice acquisition.

 

I have a Phillip I sestertius with a similar yellow color. It looks to me to be authentic.

 

@Bing Are there any specifics that we can discern from the photo as to why this is fake. Is it a modern or antique fake?

 

Here is the quoted paragraph from David Sear:

"This is a modern (probably 19th century) cast forgery of a brass sestertius of Nero (AD 54-68) issued at Lugdunum c. AD 65. It displays all the usual characteristics of a cast, such as pitted surfaces, edge smoothing, and very poor definition of the types and legends. The sestertii of Nero have been much forged, due to their popularity with collectors resulting from his highly recognizable portraiture and the usual interest of many of the reverse types."

 

Yes, I suspect that the reverse legend and the outline of Victory's arm (at 11 o'clock on the reverse) may have been enhanced, not just smoothed.

 

Thanks to everyone for the valuable input. I did pull the trigger today and look forward to its arrival.

 

It bad if within your realistic price range. Just remove the monocle from Nero’s eye !