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Author Topic: Why am I so happy?  (Read 2507 times)

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HoloWolf

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Why am I so happy?
« on: October 25, 2005, 06:18:41 pm »
In a similar vein to Rupert's thread (Why did these coins yield €162) here's my latest
acquisition, for which I was happy to pay £81 (about $145).
Can you see why?

(Experts please give the less experienced a chance to answer first.)

Offline chuck p

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2005, 01:05:46 am »
Very nice acquisition Holowolf.  I just looked up your coin and I would ask a question to be answered at the end of the 'contest'. It seems there are 3 variations, but the examples I found were so worn that I was not able to discern any differences and what these are were not spelled out in the descriptions. Would you be so kind as to make note of what these variations are? Thank you very much.
Chuck
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Offline Jerome Holderman

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2005, 01:24:22 am »
Nice find! And certainly a bargain!!

TRPOT

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2005, 01:59:32 am »
There's certainly enough of the legend left to tell who it is pretty easily. (I can see DCLODS....) Plus, the portrait is pretty distinctive. What did the seller have it listed as?

Offline Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2005, 12:54:32 pm »
Yes, I can see who it is. I'd pay that too, if I had it.
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Offline Rupert

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2005, 02:25:28 pm »
Sure enough, the emperor is quite clear, and it seems to be an as rather than a sestertius. But I wouldn't have realized that £81 is such a bargain for it?

rupert
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HoloWolf

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2005, 02:34:30 pm »
There's certainly enough of the legend left to tell who it is pretty easily. (I can see DCLODS....)
Indeed. A bit of a give-away, that.  ;)
I only owned one of his coins before I obtained this one.
The other is a silver denarius, but a badly clipped one and not worth a huge amount.

Quote
Plus, the portrait is pretty distinctive.
When you look at it properly, yes (I never claimed to be particularly observant).
When I realised who it was I just hoped nobody else would notice. *LOL*
Sadly the price did rocket not long before the end of the sale, so somebody else did notice,
but wimped out before reaching my limit, luckily for me.

Quote
What did the seller have it listed as?
"LARGE BRONZE ROMAN COIN".
The seller is a regular on eBay, with an excellent reputation, but not normally a seller of coins.
He obviously didn't know exactly what he was selling.

HoloWolf

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2005, 02:40:10 pm »
Quote from: chuck phillips on October 26, 2005, 01:05:46 am
Very nice acquisition Holowolf.  I just looked up your coin and I would ask a question to be answered at the end of the 'contest'. It seems there are 3 variations, but the examples I found were so worn that I was not able to discern any differences and what these are were not spelled out in the descriptions. Would you be so kind as to make note of what these variations are? Thank you very much.
Chuck
Sorry, but I don't have that information.
I didn't realise there were variants.
I would imagine there might be alternative obverse legends.

Offline curtislclay

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2005, 05:19:27 pm »
     As RIC 58 correctly states, this middle bronze occurs in only two variants: head bare right on obv., like HoloWolf's coin, and bust draped and cuirassed, head bare right.
    As an indication of rarity, I was able to include the following specimens of this coin in my unpubl. 1972 die study of Severan bronze coins:
Obv. Head only, 19 spec., from 2 obv. and 4 rev. dies.
Obv. Draped and cuir., 15 spec., from one obv. and 3 rev. dies.
I believe all of these coins are asses not dupondii.  I do not think I have ever seen a Felicitas middle bronze of Albinus (to let the cat out of the bag!) in yellow rather than red metal.
Curtis Clay

HoloWolf

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2005, 03:21:35 pm »
Yes, of course it is the usurper Clodius Albinus.
His coins may not be as rare as some, but they are still mighty uncommon.
This one's underlying condition is a bit better than it might appear.
Some light cleaning may improve it a bit.

I agree that it is an as rather than a dupondius.
Curtis has it spot on, as usual.  :)

Offline curtislclay

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2005, 04:06:11 pm »
    Curtis, however, should have consulted his own thesis, p. 114:  "Most of Albinus' FELICITAS COS II middle bronzes from the obverse dies o 41-2, I think, are yellow dupondii rather than red asses; they were struck alongside the FELICITAS COS II sestertii, parallel to Severus' ANNONA AVG and AFRICA dupondii.  But the FELICITAS middle bronzes from o 43, and all the COS II Aesculapius coins from o 43-50, are not dupondii but asses; they must have been struck early in 195 with Severus' second large issue of asses, MARS PATER, APOLLINI AVGVSTO, and TR P III Minerva."
     HoloWolf's coin is from o 43, so should indeed be an As.  It was probably struck in Dec. 194 for use as a New Year's present on 1 January 195, a discovery that I did not make until the 1980s.
Curtis Clay

HoloWolf

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Re: Why am I so happy?
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2005, 04:12:34 pm »
Sheesh!
That's more information than I was expecting...

Thanks for that fascinating info, Curtis!

 

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