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Metal Detecting => Metal Detecting Finds => Topic started by: krango41 on May 18, 2011, 14:44:30 PM

Title: Is this a fake? Roman coin souvenir?
Post by: krango41 on May 18, 2011, 14:44:30 PM
Hiya all i was out walking the dog in the park this morning and i found this coin on the path when i got home i tested it against a silver ring, i found i could discriminate not detect the coin but still detect the silver ring also the coin weighs 14 grams is this a fake??

[Lost and not recoverable]
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: Tascio on May 18, 2011, 15:11:07 PM
Now that is a weird find! Does that say "Nero" across the top there?

Museums etc. sell a lot of reproduction roman coins etc. but I've never seen one quite like this! I'm going to have a search around and see if I can find anything like it.
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: Tascio on May 18, 2011, 15:22:56 PM
Could be copying this one: http://www.rome101.com/Topics/Portraiture/Nero/Nero54.jpg

http://www.mmdtkw.org/AU0637bCoinNeroAgrippina.jpg
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: krango41 on May 18, 2011, 15:45:20 PM
yes i think it does say "nero"
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: Tascio on May 18, 2011, 15:54:50 PM
Ok, I'd say this is a reproduction of that Nero Aureus I posted links to above. The reproductions sold in museum gift shops tend to be a great deal better executed than this one, so I don't rule out it being an older repro. But what a weird thing to find on a pathway! Are there any museums near the find spot with a gift shop? Might be worth checking if the sell anything similar. The only similiar item I have seen for sale was a roman coin pendant at Verulamium Museum, but that had a suspension loop for the string.
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: krango41 on May 18, 2011, 16:39:05 PM
no there isn't any museums nearby that i can think of i was so suprised to see it just sitting there i nearly didnt pick it up because i thought it was a plastic childs toy coin at first
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: Tascio on May 18, 2011, 16:43:20 PM
Yep, a strange and interesting find without a doubt!
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: krango41 on May 18, 2011, 16:45:49 PM
ive tried it with a magnet and its not magnetic
Title: Re: Is this a fake?
Post by: Tascio on May 18, 2011, 22:57:13 PM
It does have a kind of Billy and Charley (http://www.detecting.org.uk/html/Billy_and_Charley_Shadwell_Forgeries.html) vibe to it. Here's a gallery of some Billy and Charley coins: http://www.mernick.org.uk/B&C/coins.htm so a 19th century pewter forgery of a roman coin maybe?

*Thread title updated*