I suppose the coin is always the main part but I always enjoy getting evidence that a coin once spent time in a collection rather than just dealer stock. This sestertius of Septimius Severus came with a very carefully lettered paper envelope (dealer tells me it is not old but a modern collector with neat writing). Three Monetae are generally connected with coinage in three metals. I find it odd that the type does not come in gold or silver. Each is shown with a scales but the center one holds hers much higher and this coin almost makes it look like a goose or the udder usually associated with Ubertas. I'm sure this is a factor of poor striking and wear. These are not terribly common (and IMP IIII date seems less common than IMP III) but the full obverse legends is what made the coin appeal to me. Many sestertii of the period are more poorly struck than this. They exist with three portrait versions but this cuirassed bust is most common.
Very nice addition. I still dont own a Sestertius. If any coin I purchased came with some paperwork or something, I would most likely keep it.
Nice coin Doug. The 3 Monetae reverse is quite appealing, and that is a nice example. Provenance is always an added bonus, and I agree a previous collector's cabinet is always more appealing than a dealers tray. I have a 3 Monetae sestertius for Commodus, quite scarce apparently.
I agree, that's a nice one. I always enjoyed the early Severan sestertii, particularly those with the cuirassed bust seen from behind. This one was struck around 196/7, right?
I always keep my tickets tucked in the flips right behind my own. Most of them are from dealers, but I prize the ones from private collectors -- the older the better. When it comes to ancients, any details of the provenance are nice to have, but I don't consider it that much of an issue when it comes to authentication. Rather, I just like to know if my coin has been passed down for generations, where and when it may have been auctioned off, or if it was dug up as part of some notable hoard just a few years ago. It all adds to the history these coins have carried around with them for many centuries. I like to think future collectors will retain my meticulously detailed tickets in their own collections when my ancients are inevitably sold off and scattered to the four winds. I'll be dead and gone, but somewhere out there, some new collector will come across one or more pieces from my albums and say, in awe and reverence for the passage of time and the tradition of numismatics, "What lunatic crammed all this worthless info onto a 2x2 slip of paper in a 4-point font I can't even read? Jerk." I'll be so proud when that happens. Wait, no I won't. I'll be dead and feeding worms. Scratch that. Ah, legacy.
That's a beauty doug, a great portrait. It is always nice to get some sort of evidence like that. Very nice.
Nice! I like that one alot too. I wonder if provenance influences other tpes of coins as much as it does with ancients. I havent ever seen (not that I've looked) u.s. coins with any provenance, though I'm sure they are out there.
I'm glad to see you set your sights high for the future. We all would like to think that our treasures will be appreciated and the efforts we made to learn about them would not go to waste but it is probably a good thing that the worms will have their way before we find out that our denarii were melted for bullion. In my case I wonder if my grandson will develop an interest in keeping my coins or, perhaps, benefit financially from selling coins that had starred in my web pages. I own a coin that appeared in the Numismatist magazine before I bought it but must not have cared a lot since I have lost the issue (or just can't find it anymore). It has been shown that there is a slight premium paid for coins from collections of note. Currently there is a dealer selling coins from the collection of Victor Failmezger. He specifies when a coin was illustrated in a plate. Does that make the coin worth more? Every so often you see coins that made the plates for Fred Shore's excellent book on Parthian coins but you have to wonder how long after a book goes out of print that anyone will continue making that note. Would you like to own a coin that appear in your reference book? Would you pay extra? Major dealers like CNG always note when a coin was once part of a 'name' collection but, again, I wonder how many buyers cared and bid more to have a coin with a pedigree.
Most of the ancients I have bought dont have any labeling. Its just tossed in a cardboard or plastic 2x2, with staples! So I take them out carefully and put them in pvc free 2x2 flips and label them with the info. I feel my coin is naked without a label attached to it, lol. As for I and purchasing a pedigree'd coin, I wouldnt pay a premium if the coin was from John Quincy Adams or something, could care less. Its all on the eye appeal for me & mostly price. If a pedigree is a attached, fine but so far nothing I have bought is from a fancy collection & if it was, the paper work got lost in time.
I have some Failmezger pieces from that dealer, and it's duly noted in my collection, but that doesn't particularly add much value to me. I once saw a Caracalla, the reverse of which was used as a type example in ERIC, for sale on eBay. It wasn't mentioned as any sort of plate coin, but I recognized it (mostly by the flan shape) and compared it with the book until I was certain I was right. I definitely wanted to get it -- but mostly because I didn't have one of those in my own set of Caracallas. I watched the auction closely and made a last-minute bid, but was out-sniped by someone else in the closing seconds. I regret missing that one since it would be have been nice to own a coin featured in such a giant tome, now made doubly giant with the release of ERIC II.
