CNG 108, Lot: 644. Estimate $5000. Sold for $5500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Faustina Junior. Augusta, AD 147-175. Fourrée Aureus (21mm, 7.12 g, 12h). Contemporary counterfeit. DIΛ FΛVSTINΛ ΛVGVSTΛ RIII, draped bust right / COS IIII, emperor, togate, standing left, sacrificing over alter. Cf. Calico 2098a (for similar imitation); Triton XXI, lot 775 (same dies). EF, thin surface cracks on obverse, minor edge mark. A rare and interesting forgery combining an obverse die modeled after Faustina Junior and a reverse die modeled after Antoninus Pius.

Struck with the same dies as the Triton XXI example (lot 775), this piece has been made to a weight approximating a genuine aureus. However, as the core consists of lighter base metal, the specific gravity of these counterfeits is inconsistent with genuine aurei.