Thanks Ron C2. If the coin actually has a higher than typical silver content for the series it would explain why it
still has a silver appearance. To find out if it has indeed been
silvered, I would have to see if I could scratch some
silvering off. which I'm not prepared to try. But if the silver content is high enough for it to
still appear silver even now, you would have to ask why it would have been done at the time. It would have
still circulated at the value of all the other
Quintillus billon ants at the time that contained next to no silver- but at a far greater cost to produce with no monetary advantage gained.
I think what we may be seeing is the
silvering process used by the
mint on behalf of
Quintillus was not as robust or long lasting as it would be later on, such as seen on a
follis of
Diocletian. That would mean the survival rate of
Quintillus ants retaining any
silvering would be very small.
So, is it a much higher than normal silver content example? Or a very
rare,
still silvered survivor? Either way I'm pleased to have spotted it.
Steve
