Nerva - 2 Questions

I don't think it is a die match. I am confused though. The obverse says COS IIII and the reverse says COS II. So have the forgers just got their hands on two dies and come up with this wierd coin?

Its definitely a fourree - green at the high points and theres a flake of the silver missing from the S of the COS II.

I reckon forgers got their hands on a bunch of dies being disposed of - not necessarily just these - but likely couldnt understand the legends and just powered through.

It is interesting though - we know this was after 99AD - the die was current until then, and if we assume they continued use of the die at the mint until such a date, we can say they still had it until the COS III dies were cut. But whats also interesting is that its managed to be paired with a Nerva die - did the forges have this die for 2 years? The obverse is still sharp, I reckon that they probably acquired that die at the same time. I cant see a die being used for that long and remaining like that.

Perhaps the mint cleared out their old die stock, sent them to be melted and someone took the opportunity?

Well, to my knowledge, no one is working on a reference for this period at the moment, but its worth recording it - official dies, after all. Try emailing the British Museum with photos, they'll record it. Quite useful knowledge - if this ones a fouree, Id bet every mule of this combination is.

Depends what the toning actually is. It should we well adhered to the coin, so D/W shouldnt affect it too severely. However, a full cleaning job, even with D/W, would probably take that off before the green.

Thanks Ben, I will stick with mechanical and see how I get on.

Medieval, fourees are fascinating, often more interesting than the real thing.

I would post pics but the image optimiser won't let me browse to my files.

It is a great find you which you rather stumbled into ! I would consider this one a keeper without a second thought.

Irreplaceable !