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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,476 |
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Valued Member
United States
386 Posts |
Edited by CouchDiver1978 02/04/2019 9:12 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Here's an RIC 575 Nero sestertius for comparison. Not a match, but perhaps close. Recommend posting to the Ancients/Medieval board to get Ben and other Roman experts looking at it. 
Edited by Kamnaskires 02/04/2019 10:56 pm
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
 to the community This coin just doesn't look right to me. The style of the lettering in the legend is not typical of what is seem.The detail of the bust and reverse is soft and not well defined. IMO it's not a genuine example.
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Valued Member
 United States
386 Posts |
Ouch! I wasn't expecting that, but I'm not overly surprised. Are I've heard about things like that happening over there. I guess I'll just leave it up for a little bit and then possibly seek out a dealer in my city for confirmation of authenticity. If that goes south then I got to find a way to break it to Mom that she got ripped off! :-(
I appreciate y'all's input in the matter! Many thanks
Edited by CouchDiver1978 02/05/2019 08:01 am
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
It also concerns me a little - I think the lettering could be believable, but the Triumphal arch is much smaller than authentic coins and has a slightly different design. There is also no reference to this reverse with this obverse - a ploy by the forgers so that they can call it 'fantasy' as there is, strictly, no ancient counterpart.
IMP NERO CAESAR AVG P MAX TR P P P / Laureate bust of Nero left, globe at tip of bust (therefore Lugdunum [Lyon] mint). S - C - slim Triumphal arch between.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1045 Posts |
Surface fabric looks wrong as well.
Looks like someone use a chemical agent to try and create artificial wear and tear.
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Moderator
 United States
34418 Posts |
@CD1978, for completeness, could you please post a diameter and weight for this piece? Thx!
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz
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Valued Member
 United States
386 Posts |
Absolutely I should be able to get that data this evening. I really appreciate everybody responding! The news is disappointing oh, but that's the only way we learn right
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Valued Member
 United States
386 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
34418 Posts |
Ok thanks for posting the additional info @CD1978!
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz
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Moderator
 Australia
16834 Posts |
I would concur that this coin is a "tourist copy", of the kind frequently sold to tourists in places of historic interest throughout the Mediterranean.
In Italy, it's actually illegal to sell genuine ancient coins to tourists; there are ways to obtain them, both legally and illegally, but a typical tourist isn't going to be able to find them easily, nor are they likely to have the patience to wait for the Italian bureaucracy to process the necessary paperwork. Selling fake ancient coins to tourists, on the other hand, is perfectly legal.
And the sellers are not obliged to inform the tourists that they are fakes - if you don't ask, they don't tell. Nor are they ashamed to charge quite a lot for them.
A common scheme (scam) which I have seen myself in Turkey is to sell a bunch of "obvious" tourist fakes for just a few euro each. If a tourist challenges them that they must be fake (or otherwise indicates that they are a coin collector with some knowledge of ancient coins), the tourist is given a knowing look, a wink and a nod, and asked to come round to the back of the shop, where some much more realistic-looking coins are offered for sale, at much higher prices. These coins too, will be fake.
People wanting to (illegally) sell genuine ancient coins in Italy won't risk offering them to tourists - they'd never know if the "tourist" might really be a government agent in disguise, looking to catch looters and antiquities smugglers. They'd be much more likely to sell them online or smuggle them out of the country personally.
I will point out, however, that that coin in the OP's post does not belong with that plastic flip - the one with the "Constantin I" ID tag. This coin is not claiming to be a coin of Constantine the Great; that flip presumably belongs to another coin.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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CCF Advertiser
 United States
1306 Posts |
@CD1978: This might help you. Here are three coins I own from my black box as a dealer I will never sell of course. Your's looks the most like the style of the one on top. And I know for a fact all three are fake but the bottom two look way better than the top one right? I have so many of all styles as all dealers who do who go through large lots from old collectors. So sadly it is not a real Nero.  
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Valued Member
 United States
386 Posts |
Tremendous wealth of information and knowledge here I sincerely appreciate all that you guys put into this one! This coin belongs to me but it's undoubtedly less painful than it would be if I actually purchased it so disappointing yes, devastating not so much. Hopefully somebody will see this post and not make the same mistake. Thanks again guys!
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,476 |
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