A new Cherson follis ? medal ?

[Eric]

Hello,
I see this coins on sale on a well known auction website :


weight : 16,06 g
 
I don't want buy it, but I would like collect opinion to know if it's a genuine coin or not ?

Thank's
Eric

[vercingetorix]

How is this coin described in that auction?

[dwarf]

Maurice Tiberius. Æ Follis (16.06 g), 582-602. Cherson. X-E-P across field, Justin, nimbate, holding globus cruciger, and Sophia, nimbate, holding cruciform scepter, standing facing; above, cross. Reverse: Large M; to left, Tiberius, nimbate, standing facing, holding long staff surmounted by staurogram. DOC -; MIBE -; SB -. Extremely Rare and unpublished. Dark green patina with cleaning marks. Medallic in appearance. Extremely Fine

The condition is a joke!
But is was sold last week

Regards
Klaus

[vercingetorix]

The reverse featuring the large M belongs to Justin II rather than Maurice. Stylistic elements from both coinages can be seen on the obverse. The weight is particularly unusual and the metrology would be a key issue in this case (do we also know the size? I assume 32-35mm). I don't think I've seen such a heavy piece from 6-7 century Cherson. I'm reluctant to call it a fake without having a chance to inspect the coin in hand - many features appear genuine - but I'm even more reluctant to declare it "an unpublished issue" from the mint of Cherson. I don't have time right now to dig deeper into this but I do have all the important publications for this mint, both Russian and western scholarship, old and recent.

[joma-tk]

I think this is a cast "coin"

tk

[Eric]

Thank's all for your response.
Sory for late response, it's been a long time since I logged in !
Yes I think also this coin is probably a fake.

So I have a lot of publications about Cherson coins (Anokhin, Sokolova, Turovskiy), and I never see such observe.
For the weight, I think it is ok, just a little heavy, but not too much, I notice somes sales with follis with M-type with weight of 14.02, 14.72, 15.16

Sokolova in his book say the weight is de 13.5 à 16.2 g for M-type and reduce after from 15 to 9 g with H-type

And some weight registered in reference books :

• Anokhin 315 sample is 13.69 g
  Sokolova plate III.1, Hermitage Museum 1975 is 16.00 g
  Sokolova plate III.2, Hermitage Museum 1976 is 16.17 g
  Turovkiy 353, same as MIB II 159 sample is 13.35 g
  

Eric