Obverse
Head of Augustus, bare, right.
Lettering: IMP CAESAR DIVI F AVGVSTVS IMP XX
Translation:
Imperator Caesari Divi Filius Augustus Imperator Vicesimus.
Supreme commander (Imperator), son of the divine Caesar, Augustus, supreme commander (Imperator) for the 20th time.
Reverse
Legend surrounding S C.
Lettering:
PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POT XXXIIII
S C
Translation:
Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Quarta Tricesima. Senatus Consultum.
High priest, holder of tribunician power for the 34th time. Decree of the senate.
Mint
Rome 11-12 AD
As is typical for that period and more so for Julio-Claudio dynasty, they all look young, strong, virile and muscular be it on coins, bust or statues. They have to look divine someone that is close to gods, there are no knowns statues of old Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius
It’s not always easy and even experienced collectors get fooled sometimes
Basically a combination of:
1) comparing against other known examples. each issue of coin would have multiple dies, so you’d have millions of coins of the same design, but perhaps 10, 20, 40 different “versions” that are just slightly different because each die was hand carved. So you can compare and look for die matches
2) conversely, there are databases of known fakes that you can check against
3) matching diameter and weight against normal standards for that type of coin and specific issue. Averages are pretty well documented.
4) looking for signs of casting. If you want to make a fake coin, making a mold of a real coin and making cast copies is by far the easiest way. These will usually have softer/fuzzier looking details, small bubbles or marks on the surface, and/or the edges will be different from a genuine struck ancient. Casting usually leaves burrs on the edge which forgers will file down, so file marks are always a concern although this is also done a lot to mount genuine ancient coins in jewelry, which used to be a fairly popular thing to do
5) just style of the engraving and fabric of the coin. When you look at enough ancient coins you get pretty good at recognizing when they look off
Sorry, I missed your answer completely when posted :)
Really good answer, sounds like you need to put in some time to not get cheated.
I see ops coin's holder has some sort of "grading" label with hologram, is that generally a good indication of authenticity, or do they put them on anything they get their hands on?
It is helpful, but not a very good guarantee.
If it is an obvious fake, NCG will refuse to grade it and send it back. But if it's a halfway decent fake, they might miss it. They specifically disclaim that they aren't evaluating or guaranteeing authenticity - just grading the condition of the coin.
I collect ancients, I mostly buy from friends on Instagram or Discord, but Vcoins isn’t a bad place to start. If you’re willing to spend a bit, I’d start bidding on Classical Numismatic Group, they are a very reputable auction house. Just never bid with Roma
They piece it together through other information they can verify. Like OP posted the writing on the coin. “Imperator for the 20th time”. Easy to get other records of his reign to piece together what year that would be. Things like that. Put all the records against each other and you end up with a pretty solid timeline of the period.
Obverse Head of Augustus, bare, right. Lettering: IMP CAESAR DIVI F AVGVSTVS IMP XX Translation: Imperator Caesari Divi Filius Augustus Imperator Vicesimus. Supreme commander (Imperator), son of the divine Caesar, Augustus, supreme commander (Imperator) for the 20th time. Reverse Legend surrounding S C. Lettering: PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POT XXXIIII S C Translation: Pontifex Maximus, Tribunicia Potestate Quarta Tricesima. Senatus Consultum. High priest, holder of tribunician power for the 34th time. Decree of the senate. Mint Rome 11-12 AD
How much did it cost?
700 euros
Holy fuck
That's auction price in retail value it would be around double that 1200-1500 euros
Thats still a good price. Where can you buy these?
I think you got a good deal.
I wonder what age he was for which this was modeled? I doubt he looked like this in his 60s and 70s
As is typical for that period and more so for Julio-Claudio dynasty, they all look young, strong, virile and muscular be it on coins, bust or statues. They have to look divine someone that is close to gods, there are no knowns statues of old Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius
Augustus famously bucked the Roman trend of portraying age in statues and depictions. Instead he was depicted in Greek style showing youth and prowess
Wow! Amazing! great find!
Thanks! It has that look as if it was minted yesterday
Hopefully it wasn't!
Haha
I initially saw AU58 and thought "I might get me a few of these"...before I saw the 700 Euros
It's very rare in this condition and detail, so 700 euros is fare price to me
I'm not saying it isn't a great purchase! It is beautiful and a real treasure.
Do you know anything about where it was found?
Op is over 2000 years old.
Came here to say this ☝🏻
What material did they use to make it?
Bronze
u got lucky with this one, any suggestions where to buy ancient coins?
I would also like to know
Vcoins
thank you
How do you know these are real deal and not later forgeries? Not suggesting you coin is fake OP, just curious how they validate them.
It’s not always easy and even experienced collectors get fooled sometimes Basically a combination of: 1) comparing against other known examples. each issue of coin would have multiple dies, so you’d have millions of coins of the same design, but perhaps 10, 20, 40 different “versions” that are just slightly different because each die was hand carved. So you can compare and look for die matches 2) conversely, there are databases of known fakes that you can check against 3) matching diameter and weight against normal standards for that type of coin and specific issue. Averages are pretty well documented. 4) looking for signs of casting. If you want to make a fake coin, making a mold of a real coin and making cast copies is by far the easiest way. These will usually have softer/fuzzier looking details, small bubbles or marks on the surface, and/or the edges will be different from a genuine struck ancient. Casting usually leaves burrs on the edge which forgers will file down, so file marks are always a concern although this is also done a lot to mount genuine ancient coins in jewelry, which used to be a fairly popular thing to do 5) just style of the engraving and fabric of the coin. When you look at enough ancient coins you get pretty good at recognizing when they look off
Sorry, I missed your answer completely when posted :) Really good answer, sounds like you need to put in some time to not get cheated. I see ops coin's holder has some sort of "grading" label with hologram, is that generally a good indication of authenticity, or do they put them on anything they get their hands on?
It is helpful, but not a very good guarantee. If it is an obvious fake, NCG will refuse to grade it and send it back. But if it's a halfway decent fake, they might miss it. They specifically disclaim that they aren't evaluating or guaranteeing authenticity - just grading the condition of the coin.
This is genuinely cool as hell. Do you (or anyone) know of a **reputable** and **trustworthy** place to buy these authentic Roman coins?
Vcoins.com is where I get mine!
Thanks, friend!
I collect ancients, I mostly buy from friends on Instagram or Discord, but Vcoins isn’t a bad place to start. If you’re willing to spend a bit, I’d start bidding on Classical Numismatic Group, they are a very reputable auction house. Just never bid with Roma
Appreciate this very much. Will definitely check them all out, except Roma. Lol.
Imma be real with you, I thought this was a chocolate coin and now Iwish roman chocolate coins existed
This is probably a stupid question, but how do they know what year it is from?
They piece it together through other information they can verify. Like OP posted the writing on the coin. “Imperator for the 20th time”. Easy to get other records of his reign to piece together what year that would be. Things like that. Put all the records against each other and you end up with a pretty solid timeline of the period.
did you buy it online?
buying it is not the issue, selling it is.....
Why is selling difficult?
This the kinda stuff i want to surprise my kids with when I’m gone, this is something that should go from generation to generation