Mystery Coin?

Thanks folks. Around what year was it made? Were these counterfeited?

Thanks again everyone. The prices on these old coins seem depressed. Is that because of the nice weather in Italy and hoards of coins found over the years?

As usual, coin prices 'depress' with demand and demand goes down when the economy is down and unemployment is up some people drop out of the active hobby. Usually this is seen first in damaged, low grade coins like this because the people who are buying can find examples in better shape for better prices and don't consider low end coins. There is no softness in the super high end coins. Go to the CNG Coins site and examine the coins in 'Cabinet W'. Pay attention to the estimates.
http://www.cngcoins.com/About+Affil...uctions.aspx

I think the difference is that many US collectors go on an assumption that they want a complete set while ancient collectors want a bunch of nice coins. A complete set of ancients is well over a million coins and there never has been a complete collection. Very few of us ever have the hope of a complete subset like my wild desire to have all the Eastern mint denarii of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. There is another collector on this list who also collects these. If we combined our collections we would be a bit closer but still far from complete. Great rarities in US generally include a few untouchable coins but leave open the hope for getting the set minus the 1913 nickel, for example. With ancients there is not even a catalog that lists all that exist so rarity moves from a prime position and demand follows what we want rather than simply coins we don't have. There is little demand for coins few people even know exist.

I have my doubts that this is a real coin. It appears to be plated but I really don't know anything about them. Here is a picture of it's edge where it looks like the plating is wearing off. Your thoughts?

The edge of the coin has 6 or 7 of the ridges or lines running all the way around the edge.

The image you posted looks like a seam. Does it look that way to you? That can only be caused by a casting. With very very little exception (some of the very first Roman Republic coins), Ancient Roman coins were struck not cast. Now that I look at the original images you posted, it looks like there may be some casting bubble holes as well. These would appear as round holes on the surface of the coin. The images are too small for me to see clearly. But if you can see round holes, that is another indicator.

IMHO, even if your coin is not cast but genuine, the value of it would be fairly low anyways for a couple of reasons. First, and foremost, it has been holed. This brings down the value considerably especially since it goes through the head of Venus. Secondly, the coin has very soft features which could be an indication it is either badly worn or again a cast. I'm not a coin snob, but even if I were in the market for a Faustina II coin, I don't think I would give this coin a second look. There are too many better ones on the market at affordable prices. Sorry for the blunt assessment.