Fourrée

Article summary

of Domitian, showing two points of breakage in the plating. A fourrée ( ; also spelt without the accent, with one R, and with one E) is a coin, usually counterfeit, that is made from a base metal core that has been plated with a precious metal or alloy to look like its solid metal counterpart; the term is derived from the French word for "stuffed". Most fourrées had a base metal of bronze plated with silver and gold but were also made with other base metals and also plated from alloys such as electrum. Production of fourrées began since coinage was first minted in Asia Minor in the 7th century BC, which were made from plated electrum. But when Greece and Rome started producing their own coinage, silver and gold fourrées became more common. Today fourrées are still made, although not to deceive people. , L. Licinius Crassus, and Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, moneyers in 118 BC. The copper core is more visible in the obverse, and is also an example of a serrati. The earliest known way of detecting fourrées was through making "test cuts", but later "banker marks" and serrated edges (serrati) became more common. Cicero mentions that M. Marius Gratidianus, a praetor during the 80s BC, was widely praised for developing tests for detecting false coins and removing them from circulation.…

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