I have been watching the output of a seller on
ebay that has been introducing quite a few coins that I have have not seen offered before. The coins all appear to be cast.
Whilst the following characteristics are not in themselves damning they are worthy of note. The seller purports to be based in
Austria but is actually in
Bulgaria. All the
auctions are private.
In an interesting twist they seller generally offers the coins in either a BuyItNow (Make Offer) format or has a
standard auction format but with the starting
price in the $200-$300 range. This seems to be a tactic to create credibility in the knowledge of the seller in that they are not starting everything at $1. Many of the
types are
scarce /
rare.
This is the first that I wanted to share. It has all the signs of being cast. No characteristics of a struck coin. Soft details, rounded edges,
evidence of casting pits, remnants of casting sprue at 4 o'clock on
reverse.
Domitian AR
DenariusObv:
IMP CAES DOMIT
AVG GERMANIC
COS XIIII,
Head of
Domitian, laureate, bearded, right
Rev:
CENS P P P across
field,
Minerva stg. left, with spear
Rome mint, 88 AD
References -
RIC 569 (Rated R).
BMC 140.
RSC 26a.
Weight 3.38 gms
Thoughts?
Once confirmed by others I will add these to the
fake reports.
Martin