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Philippicus Bardanes

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Skolot:
Hello all! I have two follises of Philippicus Bardanes struck in Syracuse. The first I have bought about a year ago, the second is from this year. I am a bit warried that the style of my coins differ from most of examples from auctions and catalogues. These coins are rare and there are few of them on the internet. I have found only two similar examples. Coin #3 was sold on Ebay this year. Coin #4 was sold on a reputable auction in 2017. Note the emperor's face and a low area above his left arm that looks like a small countermark. All four coins have it. But the coins does not look cast. What can it be? The same die with some oddities? Or fakes struck with a modern die?


My coins #1 and #2 (with edge)

Skolot:
Coins from the internet, #3 and #4:

Kevin D:

--- Quote from: Skolot on November 01, 2021, 05:17:20 pm ---Note the emperor's face and a low area above his left arm that looks like a small countermark. All four coins have it. But the coins does not look cast. What can it be? The same die with some oddities? Or fakes struck with a modern die?

--- End quote ---

I can't be sure if it is a countermark or part of the design. You have the advantage of having the coins in hand, and if you are certain that it is a countermark, then I would suspect forgery, as this element occurs in excatly the same location and positioning on all the coins (I would expect to see some variation in location and positioning if a countermark had been applied seperately to four genuine coins). On the other hand, if this element is simply part of the coin design, then this in itself would not raise suspicions.

Kevin D:
More coins for comparison. Each of these three coins (images posted below) have 'hair' that is portrayed differently than that on the four coins you have posted (the lower 'hair' at each side of the face, opposite the mouth). In the CNG archives, all of these Bardanes coins, both those of Constantinople and Syracuse, have pronounced 'side hair' which is not seen on the four coins you have posted. Every facing bust coin of Philippicus Bardanes, regardless of metal or mint, that I see in the CNG archives, ACSearch, and CoinArchives, have portarits rendered with 'side hair'.

I am not familiar with the coins of Bardanes, so I can only offer observations.

Are there any other possible attributions for the coins you have posted, besides Philippicus Bardanes? Contemporary imitations?

From DOC Volume 2 Part 1, pp.93-94:
Regarding the hair seen on the coins of this era:
“With Tiberius symmetry returns and he and all his successors have much longer hair, frizzed outwards at the sides and strongly wig-like in appearance. These varying hair styles probably corresponded to real changes in fashion. They are often useful to the numismatist in identifying portraits on copper coins where the inscription is illegible or absent and details of the costume cannot be made out.”

Kevin D:
This CNG coin might have 'side hair' that did not strike up fully. This might also be the case with the Naumann 59 Lot 616 coin (image in original post of this thread).

I feel that at least three of the coins pictured in the original post of this thread are from the same 'dies', both obverse and reverse. I don't know if they are genuine coins or not, or if one was the host for the others, or if all are from an as yet unseen host. The CNG coin pictured in this post does not look to be from the same dies, and it might point to the other coins being genuine. In any event, at this time I don't like any of these coins with weak or nonexistant 'side hair'. They are too far from what I see in the vast majority of Bardanes coins for me to be comfortable with them.

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