Domitian silver denarius: real or replica?

I’ve come across this apparent Domitian silver denarius in a cufflink. My question is whether the coin is genuine or a replica. If it were genuine, the type would be RIC II Domitian 662.

N#252095

The diameter of the coin is just over 18 mm. Since the coin is encased within the cufflink, I’m not able to separate the weight of the coin from that of the cufflink.

There seems to be a spot on the reverse where the top layer seems to have come off, revealing the silver underneath. I’m not sure if this is normal for silver. I usually deal with cheaper Roman bronzes rather than silver.

I’ve tried testing the coin with a precious metal tester. The metal type seems to correspond best with U.S. pre-1900 .900 silver (made from a less pure alloy). Of course, the tester is designed for modern coins and not ancient ones.

All opinions are welcome.

 

To my eyes it looks like a real coin made into a cufflink.

Maybe it was cleaned with chemicals and that’s the reason the reverse is chipping. It could also be a protective film coming off. I’ve heard of people who put protective film on coins that will be made into jewelry.

Thank you for your opinions. I can definitely imagine a scenario where the coin was damaged from an attempted cleaning, and then someone decided the best use for the damaged coin was to turn it into a cufflink showing the good side.

The reason I asked is because RIC II Domitian 662 is a rare type. It has the full name DOMITIANVS on the obverse instead of the usual abbreviation DOMIT.  It was also minted during a time when Domitian was rapidly accumulating military honours in his renewed campaigns against the Dacians. The acclamation IMP XVII on the reverse of the coin was current for only about two months, maybe less, at the end of the year 88.

I’m aware of 5 other examples of this type online. Two were formerly owned by the late numismatist Harry N. Sneh. He was apparently of the opinion that all coins of this type were minted with the same obverse die. Maybe now we have enough extant examples to see if that’s still true. That‘s not including whichever example was the basis of the original listing in RIC II. Perhaps that’s held by the Musée Crozatier in Le Puy, France, but I would have to contact them to confirm.