unknown coin [solved]

Can anyone figure out what this coin is?
It is 31 mm large, weight 13.6 g, density 8.5 (bronze)
The wording is on one side on the bottom is a 5
The other side is DECVRS  or something close to that.
It is thicker in the middle than the edges.

Dunno what it is really, but I agree the text is probably 'decvrs'. Decvrs is Latin for a 'military charge'..or something pretty similar.  It does look like a galloping horse on the top picture. I hope that's a wee help.

Thanks Scotty I think I found the coin.


 
Nero; 54-68 A.D.; Æ Sestertius. Obv: his laur. hd, l. Rev: S-C flanking Nero and a soldier on horseback, galloping right; DECVRSIO in ex. RIC 133.......$1495

I can agree it looks similar Ken,

...like the fact you have the same name as I do. But the lettering is rather curved and sloppy on your coin. Additionally, your coin looks like gold rather than copper.

The first thing I did when I got the coin was a density test to see if it was gold. That test turned up that the coin was bronze.   The coin I found doesn't say what it is made of. Old Roman coins were made of bronze?

Oh.

It doesn't look like bronze... maybe brass? And bronze did not exist during the old Roman times.

It could be brass as the density is the same as bronze. Both are in the 8.5 range.

There we go.

Makes sense now. You wouldn't find bronze until the 1800's.

Quote: SmartOneKgThere we go.

Makes sense now. You wouldn't find bronze until the 1800's.

Er, what about during the Bronze Age?  

Matt

Sorry, but bronze was already known and used back in the roman and greek times. It is not "new" at all.

Haha, I feel so dumb as a numismatist!

Please excuse me. It's probably bronze then, but it looks like brass.

In or about 23 BC, with the coinage reform of Augustus, the denomination of sestertius was introduced as the large brass denomination.

The sestertius was produced as the largest brass denomination until the late third century AD. Most were struck in the mint of Rome but from AD 64 during the reign of Nero and Vespasian, the mint of Lyon, supplemented production.

The brass sestertius typically weighs in the region of 25 to 28 g, is around 32–34 mm in diameter and about 4mm thick.

That's ok, everyone makes mistakes once in a while   .