Ancient Coin, new acquisition at ANA World's Fair of Money

Ancient, 83-2 B.C, Q. Antonio Balbus, new acquisition at ANA World's Fair of Money

I purchased this AR denarius From Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. at the ANA world's Fair of Money here in Chicago last week.


Q. Antonius Balbus. 83-82 BC. AR Serrate Denarius (18mm, 3.84 grams). Rome mint.
Laureate head of Jupiter right, SC behind / Victory driving quadrgia right, holding reins, palm frond, and wreath; X below horses.
PR in exergue.

Crawford 364/1d; Sydenham 742b; RSC Antonia 1.

I have also seen this type referred to as 'Denarius Serratus.'

I believe the coin should grade VF, but will be glad to read your opinions of my coin and your estimated grade. Thanks. : )








Here's a much nicer example for sale by CNG. They seem to have the same catalog numbers, but my example differs,
having the X below the horses instead of B. It would seem that one of these coins is misattributed. Your thoughts?

http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=188834


Also, what is the H after grams in CNG's description?

 

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Harlan always has nice stuff, with a price too lol. Thank goodness for ebay.

I would say yours is a VF. Its a beautiful coin.

I still dont own a serrate denarius yet.

 

As a net grade I would give it aVF. I consider myself to be a tougher grader most of the time, so please do not get mad. It would be a tossup if the reverse was centered to call it a VF, (noticable wear on both sides, leading to flatness in areas), and the offcenter nature of the reverse would not allow me personally to "bump it up" to full VF.

Its a very nice coin, very pleasant. I hate giving my grades out since some get offended. I collect a good deal of F coins myself, I think there is nothing wrong with a little good honest wear.

Put it on Ebay as an EF and it would probably be undergraded!

Chris

Btw I just read a terrific writeup on grading in the Feb 11 Celator. Very good overall article on the subject, and the author gives shout outs to our own Doug as well!

 

Thanks, mat and medoraman. I am not mad at all. : )

I agree about the off-center strike on the reverse, but notice that CNG's example is similar in off-centeredness.
In fact, one collector of ancients told me that for this issue, the reverse is 'well-centered.' LOL

What attracted me to the coin is that in a case full of silver denarii, it stood out as the flashiest, by far, an instant hit, to me.

I'd like to get dougsmit's opinions and input. I believe he'll find this thread eventually.

 

Larry, is this your first ancient purchase?

As far as the off center, its not that rare with ancients to have them off center, I notice it especially with republics for some reason.

 

No, mat, I have seven ancient coins, and I just purchased CNG's example, so will soon have my eighth ancient.

When I find an issue I really like, I tend to buy multiple examples, whether U.S. coins, CWT's or Conder Tokens.

Out of 8 ancient coins, I have two issues for which I own duplicates, of Gordian III and now Balbus.

 

Nice, a Balbus? You should post a pic of them.

 

Wonderful addition!

edit: thought you might like this
http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/zuzimjudaea/store/viewitem.asp?idProduct=3341

 

Very nice Denarius!

 

Thanks for the link, Randy. That example appears to be overgraded.
I'm thinking medoraman will grade that one only Fine.
The cost, however, is similar to mine, shown in the OP.

There is a link to my other coin in the OP,
for as long as that listing remains posted.

 

Well I would say gF. I know I sound harsh, but ancients are not supposed to be graded on the same scale as US coins are. US coins used to be stricter but have loosened up considerably to me. I never say a coin is bad in any grade, its just I prefer consistency and grade how I was taught to grade, and how it always was graded in the past.

I bet you a nickel I am pretty close to Doug's grade for those two coins. If not, I am sure I can learn something as to why he thinks differently.

Chris

P.S. If someone wants to see how true conservative grading works, buy somethign from Frank Robinson. He has an auction coming up. You can be sure if he grades something EF, it is a spectacular grade. I find pretty good deals at his auctions considering he grades appropriately. He would list that second coin probably a F, gF at best. I bought an EF Sassanid from him before and was shocked that such coins even existed when I got it in hand, (EF Shapur the Great, still the most beautiful coin in my collection).

 

Thanks medoraman...

I hope you've tightened my grading standards to be in line with Frank's. That's 'fine.'

I agree about modern grading and I believe TPG's now think, 'if it isn't flat, it isn't 'wear.'
And the rarest slabbed coins seem to be MS-60's. ; )
That pertains to U.S. coins, CWT's and Conder Tokens.
I need to learn more about ancient coins now.

 

I was posting it because it looked like a die match

 

Both coins are attributed correctly - the B and X are control marks. There's quite a few of them, and Crawford doesn't assign catalog numbers for each individual mark.

The "h" stands for "hours," indicating the die axis. Take the coin between two fingers and rotate it. The direction the reverse points is the "h."

 

Not a die match - they have different control marks.

 

A very nice Republican.


stainless

 

Sorry I didn't get here in time to answer any questions. I do tend to agree with medoraman regarding the grading and especially agree with the mention of Frank Robinson as a good describer of ancient coins. To me the term VF means nothing but Franks words usually helped you know what he was selling back before he started illustrating his lists. I rarely buy anything from him anymore now that so many people started bidding more than I do for popular coins and I started looking for rather strange stuff. In the 90's he was my #1 source of coins other than Septimius Severus.

I'm sorry I did not see the Celator piece mentioned.

 

Thanks, Doug

Thanks for chiming in, Doug.

I am supposing that grading for you may be more of the surface and strike type of grading.

I am still 'new' to ancient coins, as you know.

Regarding the 5h...

My coin, if I turn it around keeping top of obverse up,
it requires rotation of about 4h to level the reverse by CW rotation.
Another way to think of this is, when I turn the coin around, I can read the position just like a clock,
seeing that it will have to rotate from 5:00 to 9:00 to be level, a total of 4h, but it points to 5 without rotating it.
I used the bottom of horses' feet, a 'centerline' there as the hand on my clock.
Am I understanding that properly?

 

The way I remember it: Drill an imaginary hole at the top of the obverse and suspend the coin from an imaginary string. Then rotate the coin so you can see the reverse and note the location of the top. If the top is at 4 o'clock, the coin is 4H. Many people use 12H for the way the UK makes their coins and 6H for the way the US makes theirs but I replace those numbers with 'upright' and 'invert'. Some people prefer to call 12H 'medallion' orientation. While we are at it lets point out that some ancients were always made with a particular axis while others were 100% random. This is a tool for telling fakes since an issue that is always, say, 3H becomes suspicious if found 12H while one that is regularly random is not.

For grading: I consider surface and strike more important than wear but I am in the minority in this regard. I hate rough coins, corroded coins and coins missing legends due to small flans even if they are every bit as detailed as they were when struck. This opinion causes me to buy coins graded more by 'eye appeal' than by wear standards and probably pay too much for some and refuse others that most people would love. Collectors of ancients need to develop their own personal standards even if they are exactly in line with the grading company's. The only important grade for a coin is + (like it) or - (leave it). Buy what you find attractive and leave the others for me.

 

8h then

Thanks, Doug.

Your explanation was fairly easy to understand and would make my example 8h.

While many collectors collect certain types, at a club meeting I attended at the ANA show,
more than half of the members stood up and said, "I collect what I like."