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Author Topic: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars  (Read 14079 times)

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Offline ancientdave

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Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« on: June 20, 2014, 12:12:23 pm »
Did anyone else see the recent episode of Pawn Stars where a guy brings in a gorgeous denarius of Caligula? They brought in David Vagi again to authenticate, and even though it had magnificent style on the portrait, it at first looked a little too good to me. It's fairly obvious that the whole thing was a set up, how convenient is it that the only early imperial coin they have had on the show just so happens to be a Caligula denarius, super rare and very relatable to the average Joe. I guess a nice Trajan or Vespasian would not have made as much of an impact as the sensational Caligula. Rick also quickly went down the laundry list of the most over the top anecdotes about Caligula, including the persistent and ridiculous idea that madness had Caligula actually trying to designate his horse Incitatus as Consul, rather than him joking about this as an insulting jab promoting his view of the intellectual capacity of available human candidates. On one hand, it was a neat thing to see on TV, on the other hand I wonder if such exposure is always positive in the era of MOU's that now increasingly target coins.

Offline ecoli

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2014, 01:01:04 pm »
Didn't see it; but did they tell the anecdote about him emulate Zeus and ate his unborn?

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2014, 02:23:44 am »
Hi folks,

This story is in AOL news.

Meepzorp

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #3 on: June 21, 2014, 02:29:56 am »
Did anyone else see the recent episode of Pawn Stars where a guy brings in a gorgeous denarius of Caligula? It at first looked a little too good to me. It's fairly obvious that the whole thing was a set up, how convenient is it that the only early imperial coin they have had on the show just so happens to be a Caligula denarius, super rare and very relatable to the average Joe.

Hi Dave,

What exactly do you mean by a "set up"? I'm confused.

Are you implying that it is a name recognition thing (Caligula)?

By the way, in the AOL photos, the coin looks pitted. At first, this fact led me to believe that the coin was a cast fake.

Meepzorp

Offline ancientdave

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2014, 03:54:45 am »
I meant that it was far too convenient that such a scarce coin of the most notorious and recognizable of emperors walked into the shop. It was just too perfect. The whole show is scripted, but they of course try to make things appear to be random. Stuff like their "luck" in having the Caligula denarius walk through the door reminds us that it's all staged. But in spite of all the fluff and silliness, I do enjoy learning about the items that they feature.

Offline Joe Sermarini

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2014, 09:42:00 am »
I imagine coins walk into their shop all the time. They only film the interesting things.  I don't doubt, however, that much of the show is scripted and reenacted. For one thing, doesn't David live in Florida? Anyway, I like the show and like to see ancient coins on it.
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Offline Minos

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2014, 10:05:43 am »
Isn't it the same coin that was featured in this article (sold for 2600$ in 2006) ?

Offline Mat

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2014, 10:17:48 am »
Wow that does look like the coin :o
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Offline renegade3220

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #8 on: June 21, 2014, 10:27:35 am »
I saw this episode as well. It is also on you tube if you want to see. In the past they have overpaid for a Byzantine cup coin on the show and really overpaid for, if I remember, some sort of Greek coin. They had it appraised after purchase for $1000 or less of what they paid. After that episode they always have ancient coins checked out on the show before purchase.

In one episode during the trivia quizzes at commercial break they said Corey once paid $200 for 5 late roman bronze coins.

Offline Mat

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #9 on: June 21, 2014, 10:36:35 am »


In one episode during the trivia quizzes at commercial break they said Corey once paid $200 for 5 late roman bronze coins.

Wouldnt that have been nice to do. +++
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Offline renegade3220

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #10 on: June 21, 2014, 12:23:48 pm »
Quote from: Mat on June 21, 2014, 10:36:35 am


In one episode during the trivia quizzes at commercial break they said Corey once paid $200 for 5 late roman bronze coins.

Wouldnt that have been nice to do. +++

Haha! Ya, when I saw it I told my wife I was gonna go to Vegas with a trunkful of LRBs. :)

Offline bpmurphy

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #11 on: June 21, 2014, 02:23:49 pm »
Just a little background info.....

David Vagi and I are good friends so I asked him last time he appeared on Pawn Stars a few questions about it. The show is not scripted, in fact David isn't allowed to discuss anything with the Pawn Stars guys ahead of time because they want their reaction to whatever David tells them to be 100% authentic. They do compress the timeline a bit as expected, it's not like David (or most of the other experts for that matter) are right down the street, and there is a production schedule they have to maintain. But the interactions you see between David and the Pawn Star guys is 99% authentic and original. There is some reshooting of angles and what not so that it edits together correctly. I think David said he does know in advance what he's going to look at so he's not surprised by something he's unfamiliar with, that would be a waste of money to fly him in for nothing. But what you see is pretty much what happens, compressed to fit in a 10 minute segment.



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Offline paul1888

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2014, 03:13:13 pm »
I watched this episode and was surprised when he said the coin was authentic.  The pitting, at least from a distance, looked as if the coin had been made using a mold. 

My thought after the coin was authenticated was I wish my grandfather had left me one of these.  He gave me a few coins, but they are worth only a few dollars, but do have sentimental value.  Although I think I would have kept the coin and not sold it, but he seemed to be paid a fair price



Paul

Offline Meepzorp

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2014, 08:55:22 pm »
I watched this episode and was surprised when he said the coin was authentic.  The pitting, at least from a distance, looked as if the coin had been made using a mold. 
Paul

Hi Paul,

I thought the same thing when I saw the photo in AOL news. I mentioned this in my previous post in this thread.

Does anyone care to comment on this observation?

Meepzorp

Offline Adrian W

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2014, 09:45:35 pm »
If Vagi says its genuine which he did then thats good enough for me and enough said
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Offline renegade3220

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #15 on: June 22, 2014, 09:55:50 pm »
It is also the very same coin that is mentioned in the forum article. See above for the link.

Offline SC

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #16 on: June 23, 2014, 04:17:36 am »
Leaving aside the assertion by David Vagi - which I too would accept completely at face value given his experience and reputation - and just commenting on the looks of the coin for those who asked.....

The coins looks genuine to me.  Even genuine struck denarii often have pitting.  These varying sized, random pits with sharp edges, combined with an otherwise quite smooth surface can be an indicator of genuineness.  Pitting on cast examples is often small, fuzzy and widespread.  Details will likewise be blurry and there is rarely any very smooth shiny surface.

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Offline paul1888

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #17 on: June 23, 2014, 09:53:36 pm »
I was certainly impressed that he could come to his determination on authenticity and value so fast.  I am sure that he looks at thousands of coins, but still very impressive.  Especially for such a rare coin. 

Paul

Offline Mark Z

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #18 on: June 23, 2014, 11:01:12 pm »
I would've been hard-pressed to part with a coin like this, even though I might have tripled my money!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOtjnP2hlQ

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Offline David Atherton

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #19 on: June 24, 2014, 04:08:22 am »
I used to watch Pawn Stars all the time and enjoyed it, even though I knew most of it was staged. I always wondered how Rick and co. would handle a Roman coin of some value ... it figures they would call in David Vagi. Perhaps David Sear was busy?


Offline ecoli

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #20 on: July 02, 2014, 12:38:36 pm »
It does look like that coin is the very same on the article...

That makes the pawn star episode looking less likely as a random event.  I wonder which one of you who has some substantial collection, and in leaving such a collection to your heirs, not to instruct them what to do if they want to dispose of it; I very much doubt those instructions would include "Please take them to a pawn shop..."

Offline Joe Geranio

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PAWN STAR -CALIGULA AR TRP IIII! COOL
« Reply #21 on: July 04, 2014, 07:55:58 pm »
HERE IS A LINK TO THE TRP IIII ON PAWN STARS.   HE DID NOT EVEN THE MENTION OF THE RARITY OF THE DATE?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEOtjnP2hlQ

JUST FOUND TODAY by me.  CALIGULA WITH TRP IIII ON PAWN STARS, !!  Heard about on ac forum.

In all fairness he touches on the juncture of the time of the coin?


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Offline Eivin H

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Re: Caligula Denarius on Pawn Stars
« Reply #22 on: October 29, 2020, 10:47:32 pm »

 

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