Is this coin accurately described?

[Anthony H]

I recently bought this coin and it was my first coin purchase, it may have been a bit impulsive. I just want to know if it is even accurately described, as I have read unfavorable things about the rating company/seller that I purchased it from. Thank you!

[curtislclay]

Looks like Salus seated feeding a snake on reverse, with legends

M AVREL AN - TONINVS AVG

TR P XXXIII IMP X COS III P P.

The coin looks somewhat like a cast, but hard to tell without better photos or the coin in hand.

As a beginner I would recommend that you only buy from established dealers, such as our host Forvm.

[Carausius]

I agree with Curtis that the coin might be a cast, but the quality of the photo makes it hard to tell.

I will also point out that the slab grossly overstates the condition of this coin (if genuine).  If genuine, I would consevatively grade the coin as good Fine or possibly near VF.  It's not even close to XF-40.  By the way, ancient coins are not typically graded in trade by the numeric grading system used for U.S. coins.

[Zaph0dd]

Slabbing ancients and grading them is an abomination ! (specially when they are pretty wrong)

[Anthony H]

Well the fact that it may not even be real stinkss. I guess it's a learning experience. I'll stay away from eBay for now then. Thank you all for the help.

[Sam]

This slab up (Anthony  's )  is a hand made one , the serial number is fake , you buy it empty like those down and you put whatever you want on it.
This slab does not belong to NGC or known trusted company of authentication.

It meant to be for collectors to organize their collections.

[Sam]

More manually slabbed Fake

This slab is a hand made one the S# is fake , you buy it empty and you put whatever you want on it
This slab does not belong to NGC or known trusted company of authentication.

[Sam]

Reverse
This slab is a hand made one the S# is fake , you buy it empty and you put whatever you want on it
This slab does not belong to NGC or known trusted company of authentication.

[Anthony H]

I've initiated a refund, no way I'm getting stuck with a $54 fake coin.  Are there any tips to safely shop for coins on eBay, or is it just recommended to stay away completely?

[Sam]

If you want to start right , start here at FORVM Coin Shop ;

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp

At least you will have  authentic coins and collection , and if you ever decided to sell
you have no idea , how great and safe to buyers the sound of "my coins are from FORVM "
Every coin at FORVM Coin Shop has a unique number , who ever will buy from you will check it out.

By time , which is the best teacher (unfortunately it kills all its students   )  you get experience , you start to know the coin ,and know that the authentic coin can talk - YES TALK-, every part of it can talk and tells you I am authentic. , at that time you can buy on your own , now you have to know the dealer only.

Obviously , you are not ready for e-BAY , unless you buy from valued members here , have stores on e-BAY. ( even FORVM has a store on e-BAY )
Here, as example only ;     Molinari  has one

[zoser]

My tips:

First at all learn something about what you are interested to buy, I mean see the same mint on acsearch, here, wildwinds... to know how it should look like, prices etc....

If you want to buy from Ebay make sure you are buying coins from a reputated dealers as there are some really good ones there, if not buy from here or in reputated auctions.

[SRukke]

These are a bit easier to view.

[Anthony H]

These are a bit easier to view.

Wow, that looks speck for speck like an exact copy of the one I have down to every imperfection. Is that proof that mine is a casted fake? If so, is there a source for that picture?

[Zaph0dd]

They look like the pictures you posted, just the excess crap trimmed off

[Anthony H]

Well the 3 imperfections on the bottom part of the rev (2 small lines and a dot) are exactly the same on my coin.

[SRukke]

It is your coin. If you are posting pics they should be oriented correctly and not be tiny specs in the center of the pic.

[Anthony H]

Oh well that's awkward, lol. Thank you though, next time I will have better oriented pictures.

[djmacdo]

Buying ancient coins on Ebay is like like picking blueberries in a mine field--it can be done, but it is hardly worth the risk.  There are a few good dealers who offer coins there, but the number of roblematic coins makes a risky proposition for any bu the most experienced--and even they will be fooled and cheated on occasion.

[Din X]

This slab up (Anthony  's )  is a hand made one , the serial number is fake , you buy it empty like those down and you put whatever you want on it.
This slab does not belong to NGC or known trusted company of authentication.

It meant to be for collectors to organize their collections.

This is not a fake slab and the serial is real!

It is from a know certification company, NNC-NATIONAL NUMISMATIC CERTIFICATION.

They are overgrading coins (mostly US coins) and do miss sometimes fakes if it comes to ancients or do not mention cleaning on modern coins (cleaned modern coins are damaged, less valuable).

http://www.allcertifiedcoins.com/coins_slabcompanies.html

http://www.nnccoingrading.com/coin-grading-pricing.html

Slabbing ancients and grading them is an abomination ! (specially when they are pretty wrong)

To grading, I have ridiculoulsly overgraded NGC ancient coins, they were cleaned so surface is damaged + some of them have ugly scratches and they gave them choice almost uncircuated.
The dealer showed in picture the coins with the whole slab so the coins itself were really little on picture and harder to see in slab and so I did not see the surface problems in picture and relied on the wrong NGC grading.
Thanks to NGC I got burned by paying too much for ugly cleaned (damaged) coins:(


"There are no legal standards or definitions for the different grades so You can creae your own "standards" and call anything what ever grade you want. We have no problem accepting that an NGC MS-69 is not the same as a PCGS MS-69, but we get all upset over the fact that a NTC MS-69 doesn't match either one of them."

Even on modern coins the garding of one of the same coin is different, PCGS is grading harder, a NGC slabbed Morgan Dollar MS 65 might only get MS 64 at PCGS.


Added pictures of some of the wrongly grade coins.

Picture 1 much overgraded Julia Mamaea, massive scratces and damaged surface from cleaning, NGC AU, at best real grade XF!

Picture 2 larger picture same coin 

Picture 3 German Thaler overgraded as MS 64 at best uncircuated because downgrad because of edge damage (called Zainende)

Picture 4 MS 64 NGC Thaler vs Thaler (unslabbed one) in much better condition without edge damage sold as XF-MS.

[Sam]

Hi Din,
NGC has their own scales.
What is to you ,  XF to them is AU.
I think , they go by the objects on the coins if they are there , they get the grade point.
How ever their grading based on their own definitions ( which considers what the time did to that coin to the coin advantage side not against.)

[Joe Sermarini]

NNC - NATIONAL NUMISMATIC CERTIFICATION is not accepted as a valid certification/grading/slabbing company by eBay. It is against eBay rules to refer to a coin they have slabbed and graded as certified. The grades are exaggerated as often as not. Their slabs are not sealed and it would be easy to open one and replace the coin.

NNC slabs are worthless. While their slabs are not entirely fake, to present a coin as "certified" by NNC is false. They don't actually certify coins; they just put them in tagged plastic cases.

NGC and David Sear are the best 3rd party authentication services for ancient coins. NGC and David Sear are not perfect because they are human. Both are high respected experts. Neither should be compared with NNC.  

[Sam]

"NGC and David Sear are the best 3rd party authentication services for ancient coins."

INDEED 

[Sam]

Hi Din.

Can one lookup a coin from NNC ? like we do with NGC ?

[Jay GT4]

It works both ways.  Grading companies can under grade a coin as well.  I bought an Ephesus mint Vespasian graded as a fouree by NGC  but I thought it might be solid.  Sure enough when I got it and released it ftom the holder it was a solid coin.  Actually a very nice coin!

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-99039

The bottom line when it comes to ancients is use your own eyes!  Thats why i choose not to buy slabbed coin's because it's difficult to actually see the coin. Grading companies have their place, especially experts like David Sear, but the vast majority of times your own eyes will tell you what's going on if you know what to look for.

[djmacdo]

I hate to see the U.S. coin obsession with grading enter the ancient coin world.  Ultimately for me, there are only two grades--I want it or I do not want it.