Surprise, surprise. This is amazing!!
I spotted the piece on the 'bay. The sellers photos were absolutely terrible but the coin was absolutely wonderful. He precisely attributed the coin, and gave several references, very cool but thats not the whole story. I am very happy with the coin in every way. Follow me here.
The coin type is quite interesting from several standpoints.
First, The coin is slightly bent, yet the coin is too thick to be bent easily. So I tell my self it came from the mint like that.
To the naked eye this coin yields the appearnece of a VF, silver rich, appealing, highly reflective surface. This was enough for me to look closer.
Under high magnification the truth was made known. It's FAKE! Yup that's right, soft markings that I thought might be a product of bad photography and toning was in fact, Cupric material bleeding through the place on the coins surface where it had been plated. Under magnification I was able to determine that the green cupric material is not a deposit on the a silver surface.
The silver denarius at this time in Roman history was greater than 90% pure with relative certainty. There would not be enough copper in the coin to turn green over time and eventually penetrate the surface for this to be real.
Judging by the color of the copper material, the corrosion is not active in the BD sense. The coin is clearly of the correct weight at 3.86 grams in this apparent state of preservation. In fact it is a very carefully made and probably semi official Issue. Now when I say semi official, I mean the coin was made with official dies and mostly likely by someone stealing from mint. WOW!
Second, The coin type is very cool. It features the "usual" bust of Roma right wearing a winged helmet. The legend ROMA the monogram (XVI) meaning 16 Asses. Clearly stating the denomination. The letters EX SC tells us it was made under special decree of the Senate, and the coin was authorized by a Queastor rather than a Moneyer. In this case the coin says M.Sergius Silus.
Third, the type has an interesting reverse! The horse rider carries a sword and the head of a Gallic Warrior in the same hand. Very neat and rather graphic. Gotta love antiquity. Modeled after the ancestor of the Queastor who is said to have been wounded 23 times and lost his right arm and continued to battling Carthage in the Punic War.
The description should probably read...
Ancient Forgery
Roman Republic
M.Sergius Silus s. 115/116 BC
Fouree Denarius 19 mm x 3.86g
Obverse: Helmeted Head of Roma Right- ROMA - XVI monogram behind. EX. S.C. in front.
Reverse: Hero on Horseback with Sword and Gallic Head Shield behind. Q left lower field. SERGI below, SILVS in ex.
Ref: Host Coin: Crawford 286/1.
Posted 11/21/2014 9:34 pm
