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Search Advanced Search Search By Coin ID     Home ANCIENT/BYZANTINE Ancient Spain (872) Byzantine (753) MEDIEVAL/EARLY WORLD Germany (30) MODERN WORLD COUNTERFEITS AND IMITATIONS   Submit New Coin(s)   Sponsors page Terms of Service Contact Us About Us FAQ Page Coin Detail Click here to see enlarged image. ID:     631519      [UNVERIFIED] Type:     Roman Imperial Issuer:     TACITUS Date Ruled:     AD 275-276 Metal:     Gold Denomination:     Heavy Aureus Struck / Cast:     struck Date Struck:     AD 275-276 Weight:     6.56 g Obverse Legend:     IMP C M CL TACITVS AVG Obverse Description:     laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right Reverse Legend:     P M TB P VI COS II P P Reverse Description:     Mars walking right, holding spear and trophy; pellet in exergue Mint:     Tripolis Primary Reference:     cf. Estiot, "AurÉlian et Tacite: Monnaies dor et faux modernes," BSFN 9 (1990), fig. 4 (same obverse die) Photograph Credit:     Classical Numismatic Group Source:     http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=37096 Grade:     Good VF, gilt and ex jewelry Notes:     ($3000) Estiot asserts that this remarkable coin is based one of the final issues of Aurelian at Tripolis that contained this exact reverse legend and type (cf. MIR 47, 384d and pl. 143). The sole known authenic Tacitus specimen, in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (Estiot, fig. 4), is reverse-die linked to this issue of Aurelian. While there are a number of forgeries of this type, Estiot identified features of the false reverse dies which make their identification possible: the TB P is reverted to TR P and there is no pellet on the reverse. The present coin, however, still retains the TB P and pellet, thus it is the second known authentic specimen. Interestingly, along with our specimen, all of the coins, authenic and false, published by Estiot share the same obverse die. The reverse die of the false coins, though, are not copies of the Hermitage coin, but do match that of our coin, though they have the "incorrect" TR P and no pellet. Thus, it must be that these forgeries are copies of our coin or another, unpublished, struck from the same dies. Truely, a remarkable coin!

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