I'm not completely convinced this coin is fake, but more far more convinced then not after researching this morning. Interested in other opinions...
This coin has a
pedigree and has sold for BIG $$ in 2012. It was sold at
auction in 2008, 2012, and then withdrawn in 2014. Interestingly, the coin was withdrawn in 2014 from the same dealer that sold it in 2012.
Why do I think it
may be fake? First, we need to establish what it should look like. It's pretty
rare and only has 8
obverse and 7
reverse dies known to
Crawford in all variations. In particular, the
lituus on this coin is shaped differently from the majority of the 7 left curving dies as it curves continuously outward towards Caesars neck rather than curling back in which the other dies do, so this make it easier to spot. Also, the spear tip on the
reverse terminates above the horses'
head rather than well behind its
head like all of the other dies. This same die combination is one of the 2 specimens in the British Museum and the other BM specimen shares the same
reverse die. A review of
Alfoldi reveals the same conclusions to me.
Now that we believe we know what it should look like by comparing what we believe to be authentic examples, notice some problems with the coin in question. The
obverse looks pretty accurate so we're going to focus on the
reverse by looking specifically the the left
side of the coin. On both BM examples, the wheel next to the
border dots is very different. The horses' hooves and the left M should be much closer to the
border as should Juno's dress and the horse's tail. On the BM example with the different
obverse die, we can see what
Juno should look like. The hand should be at or very close to the
border, at a different angle and actually attached to the spear which runs from the back hand across her body and to the
shield. The questionable coin gets all of this wrong.
I cannot find a suitable seed coin at this point. I believe this coin appears to be a fake made from transfer dies from an authentic example, probably offstruck on the left
reverse requiring a forger to recreate these details with mistakes. The corroded surface treatment and overall look reminds me a lot of this fake
Caesar in my post here:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=98747.0Last
auction description:
The Caesarians.
Julius Caesar. January 44 BC. AR
Denarius (19mm, 3.97 g, 12h).
Rome mint; M. Mettius, moneyer. Wreathed
head right; to left,
lituus left and
CAESAR • DICT downwards to left, QVART upwards to right /
Juno Sospita, wearing
goat skin headdress, in galloping
biga right, brandishing spear in right hand and holding
shield in left; M METTIVS in
exergue.
Crawford 480/2a; Alföldi
Type II, 6-7 (A2/R1); CRI 98 (same dies);
Sydenham 1057;
BMCRR Rome 4135-6;
Kestner -;
RSC 36.