NGC #3761188-001 VF, Strike 4/5, Surface 2/5, "core visible" (NGC Website certification lookup)
For more information on this type, see our writeup on the Julius Caesar Elephant Denarius
Sold 3 April 2014 (JJFN Ebay store, item # 231120578927)
Julius Caesar (Dictator, 49 – 44 BC) Fourrée / Plated Denarius
Mobile military mint traveling with Caesar in Northern Italy, 49 BC.
Obv: Elephant advancing right, trampling on horned serpent or carnyx (Gallic war trumpet). CAESAR in exergue.
Rev: Pontifical emblems – ladle (simpulum), sprinkler (aspergillum), axe (securis) surmounted by a wolf head, and priest’s hat (apex).
Ref: For prototype: RSC 49; Crawford 443/1; Sydenham 1006; Sear CRI 9; Babelon 1885, p10, Julia 9.
Pedigree: Ex-Jackson & Jacobs Family Numismatics (3 Apr 2014, Ebay item #231120578927; 1 Sep 2013, [Unslabbed] #330983650815); Lucernae Numismatica / Antonio Hinojosa Pareja (Alcala la Real, Spain, 20 March 2013)
Notes: Fourrées (or Subaeratus) are silver plated denarii with base cores. As NGC indicates, these were “ancient forgeries,” also known as contemporary counterfeits. (As Mattingly (1928/1960: 24) noted, though, there were times when the State officially struck plated denarii.)