Imitations of the Severans

Imitation of the Severans (AD 193-235) and later (to AD 253)

In the last decade (since the Iron Curtain came down) it has become clear that huge numbers of Severan imitations were produced in the Balkans. However, there are very few scholarly articles on these.

Imitations from this period are common. Here they are grouped by ruler in chronological order. One of each is illustrated here. The linked pages illustrate and discuss these and additional pieces.

Pieces tend to belong to one of these categories:
1) Solid-silver imitations with unofficial style
        [These are rare. Why were they produced? The solid silver eliminates the profit motive.]
2) Plated-silver imitations, struck, and with unofficial style
        [Struck for profit, these are very common.]
3) Cast imitations (in official style) but with no plating. They appear to be copper or other base metal.
        [Did these ever have surface-silvering? Many do not look like it, but some have some thin light-metal surface. Casts cannot be created with the same silver-foil method used for fourrés. So, if they did have surface silvering, was it more like that of the later antoniniani? Perhaps the counterfeiters perfected a process used later to make the surface-silvered antoninini of emperors (for example, Probus and Aurelian) in later third century. Many extant ants show no traces of silver, but all(?) were originally surface-silvered.]
4) Gray/black base-metal imitations
        [Good (official?) style, very dull gray or black metal, apparently not copper. Probably cast. But how did they get the silvering required to make them deceptive?]

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A page of imitations of Septimius Severus (193-211)