Options
Roman Empire: Vitellius (April-December, 69 AD) silver denarius
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,218 ✭✭✭✭✭
VITELLIUS (April-December, 69 AD), AR denarius, LIBERTAS
Obverse- A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right.
Reverse- LIBERTAS RESTITVTA, Libertas, draped, standing facing holding pileus and long rod.
RIC 105, RSC 47, 16-19 mm, 3.05 g. NGC Fine (Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5, designated as an "ancient forgery"). cert. #4094568-010. Ex-Lars Rutten of Rutten & Wieland, Switzerland, from a swap through his VCoins store, October, 2011.
Vitellius is another numismatically scarce Civil War emperor who ruled from April to December of 69 AD as the third emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors. This coin has some moderate goldish-colored toning which does not show in the slightly overexposed photos, and it is more attractive in hand. NGC considered it to be a fouree, or ancient forgery, calling it a "plated denarius". If this is true, it was a counterfeit made sometime around 69 AD, to circulate in commerce. Fourees are collectible in their own right, though not quite as valuable as a genuine imperial issue would be. I personally had no inkling of this piece being a fouree, since it looks like good silver and there are none of the usual telltale signs of bronze peeking out from underneath the silver plating, even in the edge cracks. If this coin is an ancient forgery, it is an exceptionally well preserved one, in the right weight range, with really good plating. Several experts on the FORVM Ancient Coins site agree that this doesn't look like a fouree, so the reason NGC so designated it remains unknown.
Main Roman Imperial Collection list
Obverse- A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right.
Reverse- LIBERTAS RESTITVTA, Libertas, draped, standing facing holding pileus and long rod.
RIC 105, RSC 47, 16-19 mm, 3.05 g. NGC Fine (Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5, designated as an "ancient forgery"). cert. #4094568-010. Ex-Lars Rutten of Rutten & Wieland, Switzerland, from a swap through his VCoins store, October, 2011.
Vitellius is another numismatically scarce Civil War emperor who ruled from April to December of 69 AD as the third emperor in the Year of the Four Emperors. This coin has some moderate goldish-colored toning which does not show in the slightly overexposed photos, and it is more attractive in hand. NGC considered it to be a fouree, or ancient forgery, calling it a "plated denarius". If this is true, it was a counterfeit made sometime around 69 AD, to circulate in commerce. Fourees are collectible in their own right, though not quite as valuable as a genuine imperial issue would be. I personally had no inkling of this piece being a fouree, since it looks like good silver and there are none of the usual telltale signs of bronze peeking out from underneath the silver plating, even in the edge cracks. If this coin is an ancient forgery, it is an exceptionally well preserved one, in the right weight range, with really good plating. Several experts on the FORVM Ancient Coins site agree that this doesn't look like a fouree, so the reason NGC so designated it remains unknown.
Main Roman Imperial Collection list
0
Comments