Roman Caligula Vers 37-38 Coin

Hello and welcome.

Coins of Caligula are scarce, and sestertii with this design, his three sisters dressed up as goddesses, are probably the most desirable of his types. If genuine, it would indeed be worth thousands; see the nine examples on Wildwinds and click on the "text" links to see the auction data each one sold for.

Unfortunately, being a rare, desirable and attractive coin, it's also one of the most commonly copied coins of the early Roman period. The cracks that are visible on the emperor's cheeks, even at that low resolution, tell me that this is likely to be a cast fake. But we'd really need to see better pics of both sides to be sure one way or another.

I must agree with sap, there seems to be a casting 'pearl' (a space where air created a pocket between the metal and the mold) between the chin and the 7 oclock text.