Roman coins » Copies » Contemporary copies
Plated copies
These are copies that have a precious metal surface layer over a base-metal core. The most common examples are silver plated denarii of the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. They can often be detected when the surface layer becomes cracked, or flakes away, revealing the copper-alloy core beneath. Sometimes corrosion of the underlying core will appear as bubbles or lumps on the surface and occasionally the surface will be completely removed leaving just the core. Plated imitations are normally lighter than the coins that they copy.
 |
 |
|---|---|
| Figure 1: Two obverses showing damage to the surface plating. | |
 |
|
| Figure 2: Reverse of a plated denarius where only the core survives | |
