Show me the broken, holed, and uncollectable pieces of junk that you love

Gao · 07-12-2009, 05:26 PM

In my collection, I have a few coins that are damaged enough that many collectors wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole, but I love them anyway. I would like to see what coins all of you have in your collections that many others would consider uncollectable due to being broken, holed, pitted, corroded, or some other reason. Feel free to post some of your favorites or perhaps those that are damaged in an interesting way.

For my first entry, I present you the following:

Philip I "the Arab"
Roman AE Sestertius
coin struck 247-249 AD
RIC 168a

O: IMP M IVL PHILIPVS AVG, laureate, draped, & cuirassed bust right

R: ANNONA AVGG, Annona standing left with cornucopia and holding corn ears over modius, S C in field

In addition to the obvious chunk missing, it's also over cleaned, and there's a raised line on the neck that's from either a die crack or foreign matter inclusions in the alloy. So why do I have this? Mostly, I really like the portrait. Coin quality in the Roman Empire declined during the reign of Philip due to economic problems, with sestertii decreasing in size, flans being more rugged, and portraits becoming more rushed. At the time I got this, I didn't have any sestertii or any coins of Philip the Arab, and I thought that this portrait was unusually nice for the period. This is probably a pretty unusual opinion for a coin collector, but all else held equal, I would pick a broken coin with a good portrait over a whole coin with a shoddy one. As you might guess, I collect more for the enjoyment than for investment.

In addition to that, I found this break rather curious. This is a reasonably thick coin, so it would take quite a bit to break it. I've been wondering if it's the result of a poorly cast flan that either didn't fill the mold right or somehow was made with a weakness in that part of the flan.

Breakdown · 07-12-2009, 06:14 PM

That is one strange reverse. Do you have an idea what is symbolized there? Cool piece of history.

Gao · 07-12-2009, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breakdown

That is one strange reverse. Do you have an idea what is symbolized there? Cool piece of history.

That would be Annona, who was the Roman personification of the annual grain supply of Rome. The objects with her all represent things related to grain. Two of those should be obvious, and the modius was the container used to measure the grain dole. I don't know Latin, but I'm pretty sure the reverse translates to something like "The grain dole of the emperors" (anyone who knows Latin, feel free to tell me that I'm completely wrong). The grain dole was extremely important to the city of Rome, as it was a major source of food for most of the people in it. Emperors were quick to remind everyone who had control over this supply and whose generosity kept it coming through reverses like this.

Ardatirion · 07-12-2009, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gao

That would be Annona, who was the Roman personification of the annual grain supply of Rome. The objects with her all represent things related to grain. Two of those should be obvious, and the modius was the container used to measure the grain dole. I don't know Latin, but I'm pretty sure the reverse translates to something like "The grain dole of the emperors" (anyone who knows Latin, feel free to tell me that I'm completely wrong). The grain dole was extremely important to the city of Rome, as it was a major source of food for most of the people in it. Emperors were quick to remind everyone who had control over this supply and whose generosity kept it coming through reverses like this.

Not too far off at all. The idea is the same, the annona was essentially a grain dole traditionally granted by the Emperor to the city of Rome and, rarely, to other cities such as Antioch. Although, "grain dole" has negative connotations in today's language. To most Romans, it was no more onerous than receiving a tax rebate would be to a modern American.

I don't think your coin is uncollectable by any stretch! It has a wonderful portrait, and is otherwise in fairly nice condition.

Also, note the modius of grain to the left of Annona. The modius was the physical measure of wheat granted to each citizen.

Here's a rough broken one for you.

Constantius II
AR siliqua – 18mm
Lugdunum, 360-361 AD
DN CONSTANTIVS PF AVG
pearl-diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right
VOTIS/XXX/MVLTIS/XXXX within wreath
LVG in ex.
RIC VIII Lyons 216

Gao · 07-12-2009, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ardatirion

I don't think your coin is uncollectable by any stretch! It has a wonderful portrait, and is otherwise in fairly nice condition.

Yeah, that's what I think of it. I do know of collectors who winced when I mentioned that I had anything that could be considered broken, and I had one try to talk me out of getting any more. I figured that that made it worth posting in this thread.

Quote:

Here's a rough broken one for you.

Now that's broken. It almost looks like the cracks all radiate from the center, which is something I don't think I've seen before.

I figure I might as well post my busted siliquae as well.

As far as I can tell, the first is:

Velens
AD 364-378
AR Siliqua

O: (DN VALEN?)S PF AVG, diademed bust right

R: VOT V MVLT X in wreath, mintmark below (on missing section)

I'm pretty sure the second two are:

Julian II "The Apostate"
AD 361-363
AR Siliqua
Constantia (Arles) mint
RIC 297

O: DN IVLIANVS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped & cuirassed bust right

R: VOTIS V MVLTIS X in wreath, TCON in exergue

You can't really tell in the scan, but both of the Julians are also a little bent.