Roman coin denominations

[JKK]

I'm having a terrible time determining the denominations of my Roman coins. As, dupondius, or what? Hard to tell. Can anyone recommend a really good reference that will help me discern the denomination? If it's a book, I'll buy it, as I plan to continue collecting and will have more to consider. The bronze are the biggest headache. I'm pretty sure my silver coins are denarii.

 

While we're at it: is counterfeiting a big problem with Roman coins these days?

[the_Thing ®]

In regards to reference material, there is a sticky thread at the top of this forum that lists recommended ancient coin reference material. I didn't check, but if memory serves me, there are some good recommended standard references on Roman material that would be great to own. As far as counterfeiting ancient Roman coins, I would not say it is a big problem. Most of your counterfeits will be high end material. You hardly ever see fairly common issues of Roman coins counterfeited, silver and bronze. There are just too many of them out there to make it worth while to counterfeit. You might browse around www.vcoins.com It is a group of dealers with membership requiring a pretty high standard of ethics and is really well policed in regards to counterfeits. If you ever do intend to spend a fair chunk of money on an ancient coin, David Sear offers an authentication service. His opinion is about as good as it gets.