Author Topic: A good deal from a bad photo? (Read 4679 times)

daverino · « **on:** August 15, 2010, 11:25:22 pm »

I recently bought this Alexandrian T'drachm of Tacitus from an on-line seller who mainly sells modern coins. After I got the coin I rephoto'd it (blue backgrounds) and show it compared to the original sales photos (on the right) which tend to exaggerate surface roughness, particularly of the obverse. Sometimes you can get good deals from sellers who aren't aware that ancients need to be photographed more carefully than smooth modern coins.

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #1 on:** November 04, 2010, 05:56:17 pm »

I've had some real bargains that way!

renegade3220 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 04, 2010, 06:25:57 pm »

Aye, I got a pretty good deal IMO on a Philip I because the person that had the coin

1) didn't have pictures at all of it
2) when convinced to take pictures for me took horrible ones
3) when I helped them over the phone to take pictures took slightly less horrible ones

I finally took the horrible photos and photoshoped them so I could figure out an attribution for the coin. Once attributed I told the person that I was only willing to pay X amount because I couldn't tell the condition of the coin from the photos- which I honestly couldn't. They were glad to take what I offered, especially after I told them their coin was not in "mint" state as they put it.

Ended up everyone was happy.

Andrew McCabe · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2010, 06:48:07 pm »

Quote from: renegade3220 on November 04, 2010, 06:25:57 pm

Aye, I got a pretty good deal IMO on a Philip I because the person that had the coin

1) didn't have pictures at all of it
2) when convinced to take pictures for me took horrible ones
3) when I helped them over the phone to take pictures took slightly less horrible ones

I finally took the horrible photos and photoshoped them so I could figure out an attribution for the coin.

My best deal from a bad photo was the below "Pietas" denarius of Cnaeus Pompeius 45BC. I bought it on eBay based on a one-side-only photo (of the reverse). The price was very modest despite this being one of the classic rarities, much studied due to its unusual die sequences, including links with other issues. No-one was going to bid on a scrappy coin showing a stick-figure with the word Pietas and no clue whether the coin even had an obverse let alone what that obverse showed.

Ted Buttrey's article on the series is in abridged form here:

http://andrewmccabe.ancients.info/Mints.html#Pietas

Randygeki(h2) · « **Reply #4 on:** November 05, 2010, 01:02:12 am »

The pic(not posted) of this one was just the glare from the plastic on the carboard flip ( felt like gambling

) Not that its a bueaty

slokind · « **Reply #5 on:** November 05, 2010, 02:15:20 am »

My favorite was this Hadrian of Bithynium-Claudiopolis, which was doubted even for authenticity in the seller's photo by some of the membership, which was validated by an obverse die in von Aulock collection. I just love this kind of patina, and I also like Bithynian Hadrians, and I also had had nothing from Claudiopolis before.
Pat L.
CLICK FIRST IMAGE

maridvnvm · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2010, 05:06:43 am »

Pat,
I do not see any die link between the coin you posted and the von Aulock plate coin you illustrate. The vA coin looks to be seen from the rear and your coin from the front. The wreath ties look to have a different arrangement too.
Regards,
Martin

renegade3220 · « **Reply #7 on:** November 05, 2010, 07:51:13 am »

Quote from: maridvnvm on November 05, 2010, 05:06:43 am

Pat,
I do not see any die link between the coin you posted and the von Aulock plate coin you illustrate. The vA coin looks to be seen from the rear and your coin from the front. The wreath ties look to have a different arrangement too.
Regards,
Martin

Agreed. The angle of the head on the neck seems to be different between the two as well...

renegade3220 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 05, 2010, 07:55:50 am »

Guess i will post the Philip I that I was speaking of.

The bad photos are the ones that I doctored in Photoshop. They were WAY worse before the doctoring. I would post those but I am not at home right now and they are on my laptop there.

slokind · « **Reply #9 on:** November 05, 2010, 07:15:18 pm »

P.S. To Martin and whatever Renegade's name is: Of course it is not the same die! It is just a closely similar style. That is why I said 'validates' (viz, strengthens) rather than any other idea. Several of us had been looking through every coin we could find of Hadrian from a Bithynian mint. I don't have vonAulock, but someone sent me that image. The rest of the validation is on the coin itself. I was thinking that I ought to try to photograph it again. I already have a dozen or so attempts.
It wouldn't be so rare and interesting if we had found matches for it.
Pat L.

PS: see earlier post, https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=44926.0 where also a link to its first posting. I think I WILL try to rephotograph it with DSL, to try to answer Bruce's post, whether yea or nay, as to tooling. I now have 2 1/2 years of additional practice with that DSL (the above was taken with the Nikon 8800).

renegade3220 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 05, 2010, 07:39:03 pm »

Ahh, sorry Slokind I mis-understood your comment. I thought you were referring to a die match rather than a stylistic match to help validate the correctness of the engraving.

Jeremy F.

slokind · « **Reply #11 on:** November 05, 2010, 10:28:00 pm »

Well, I did take a new, DSL photo of it, and here it is. For its earlier attribution, see https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=44926.0 (where a link also to the initial posting can be found).
••04 04 08 AE25 9.74g axis 6:30h Bithynium-Claudiopolis. You can find that on Map 4 in Sear GIC just right of the T in BITHYNIA. Hadrian, laureate, bust in armor from in front. Rev., Athena in helmet (perhaps with aegis, but not plainly so), wearing peplos, stg. r., leaning on spear in her l. and holding owl on her l. hand. For the rev. legend see https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=44926.0. At least ADRIANOS is plain in the photo here on the obv.
BTW, it cost $34.20. I can't tell if the 'turquoise' color on the edge is touch-up or sealant over touch-up or BD, but whatever it is I won't touch it, especially since the die pair remains apparently unique, and it is unchanged since I got it.
CLICK, UP TO 2000 PIXELS
I think the rendering of Hadrian's profile eye is wonderful.

P.S. Jeremy: I like your Philip, too.

renegade3220 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 05, 2010, 10:53:31 pm »

Thanks for the comment on my Philip slokind.

I think it very wise that you have not touched the coin you posted. It is not worth any risk.

For some reason this coin jus has the feel of a patina on a patina. Lol, I can't explain it, but that is how it looks to me. Really cool!

maridvnvm · « **Reply #13 on:** November 06, 2010, 06:47:25 am »

Pat,
I am sorry. I misunderstood and thought that you were implying a die link.
Regards,
Martin

daverino · « **Reply #14 on:** November 17, 2010, 08:42:42 pm »

I kind of lost track of this thread that I began a while ago. From my archives I have found the bad photo/good coin to top them all. This coin was advertised (on fleabay, where else?) as 'Otacila Severa' by a guy who obviously didn't know Roman coins from a hole in the wall. It has taken me some effort to reproduce his photo and what I achieved here is better than the one he showed - no kidding. It was only just perceivable as a coin. I'm still not sure if it wasn't meant as a joke but, being an Otacilia fan, I took a chance for about $12. The result was a "Hippo' coin. A bit rough, it must have been run over by an ox cart once upon a time but I love it just the same.

renegade3220 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 17, 2010, 08:46:33 pm »

Quote from: daverino on November 17, 2010, 08:42:42 pm

A bit rough, it must have been run over by an ox cart once upon a time but I love it just the same.

Or, maybe it was run over by a hippo?

Ok, now that my bad humor is out, you really can't beat that coin for $12 bucks... I'd give you $12 for it!

daverino · « **Reply #16 on:** November 18, 2010, 10:03:21 am »

Thanks Renegade. I've often wondered how the coin got the way it is since most of its irregularities were sustained while in circulation. A drunken celator having a bad day at the mint? A kid beating up on it with a tack hammer? Perhaps swallowed by an entraged hippo? All of the above? It's at least interesting to speculate.

daverino · « **Reply #17 on:** December 28, 2010, 07:09:56 pm »

I am a complete sucker for Otacilia Severa and just to prove it I show this photo from "an on-line auction site" taken with a camera-phone and described as:
otacula (with Phil I) Severa Concord w Zcond v. nd pater A-Fine.

I realized he was trying to decipher someone's bad handwriting on a coin flip and what he was trying to say was : Otacilia Severa (Wife of Philip I), Concordia with 2 cornucopia and patera, About- Fine.

Thinking that anyone that ignorant wasn't trying to be deceptive, I dropped twenty-two bucks on the coin and think I got a pretty good deal from this awful photo.

daverino · « **Reply #18 on:** December 28, 2010, 07:24:50 pm »

.... and the coin

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Author Topic: A good deal from a bad photo? (Read 4679 times)