Julia Domna Denarius, Fake?

@spa, first welcome to CCF. Second, it is a little hard to tell if the darker color is toning or a base metal core poking up from underneath a silver coating. Can you please perform a specific gravity test and post the results to this thread? That should help us to confirm the alloy. Also, please post the weight and diameter. Thx.

Hopefully others can weigh in on the remaining details.

@Spence Thank you for the welcome and for the details. Will look into buying a electronic balance with a high precision tomorrow.

@Tanman2001 Thank you for the correction! Will update the post if possible.

Considering that a Julia Domna denarius is much more common, are the chances of this coin being counterfeit much less likely?

It should be noted that imitations of Julia Domna do occur quite regularly both in terms of fouree and outright imitations in solid silver.

I don't actively chase these as much as I do those of Septimius Severus but have a couple from my collection that I can show to illustrate. You also get coins that have been corroded with black areas on the surfaces.

Fouree
Obv:- IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, Draped bust facing right
Rev:- VENVS GENETRIX, Venus seated left with scepter & right hand extended, cupid at feet
Copies a coin minted in Rome, A.D. 217
References:- copying RIC 389

Here you can see areas where the plating has "blown" away from the core beneath.



Imitative
Obv:- IVLIA DO-MNA AVG, Draped bust right, hair tied in bun behind
Rev:- LIBE-RI AVG, Liberalitas seated left, holding accounting board and cornucopiae


Corroded with dark adhesions
Obv:- IVLIA AVGVSTA, Draped bust right
Rev:- P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, Bust of Geta right.
References:- RIC 571

to the Community!

Please bear in mind that these coins have a relatively high base metal content. Depending on the ground conditions the copper may well have been chemically leeched from the coin.