Julius Ceasar AV Aureus

I pinked this piece up in a trade deal at the coin show today.

I'll get some better pics early this coming week.

 

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wotta beaut

 

LOL, "MS 60" and its off center.

Still a gold Caesar is drool worthy. Got one of my favorite bust types of ancients too.

 

Yeah... I didn't pay much attention to the plastic.

 

Wonderful coin ! The Holy Grail for Ancients Collectors :smile ( at least one of them )

It seems there is another interesting one just beyond ...

 

How do they get that into plastic.

 

Its an extremely nice coin, but wouldn't a "holy grail" be a portrait aureus instead.

 

Sure .... but an Aureus is already a small Grail whoever the ruler

 

If you must slab an ancient, don't get a bargain slab. The denarius of Augustus below may not be worth it but my level of (lack of) expertise would require either a Sear certificate or a NGC for the gold. When you buy a slabbed coin you are stating that you trust the inspector that inserted the coin enough that you don't need to see the edges or handle the coin to feel good about the authenticity call. No one guarantees ancients when they are slabbed so it becomes your problem a lot sooner than would be the case with a modern. I don't know who you bought the coin from. I don't know who graded it but we do know that they thought more of it than Mat did so there is at least one collector who would say it is overgraded and might hesitate to pay $3k for it.

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=78110

If you are new to this list you may not remember the above post showing Marcus Aurelius in a Commodus holder. I have seen Elagabalus and Caracalla mixes also. In those cases you are talking about coins worth about the same price and possibly less than the cost of slabbing (unless you got in on a sale) so there is no foul. Right? It is all a matter of trust.

 

Lol, my Vespasian I currently have in my collection was in an ICG slab. Of course it was busted out & I didnt keep the ticket. I only did so with my two NGC coins.

 

I got this piece for about $1800 less than an XF sold for in May so I think I did ok.

 

Very neat coin!
The only slabbed coin I have is a silver Morgan that I got for melt. Ironically, I got it just to have a slabbed coin

 

:yes:whoaaaa... now thats something to behold. Lucky,lucky,lucky

 

Here are some close ups of this coin. (Those scuffs are on the holder) Now the question remains... what to do with it? Leave it in the current ICG holder? Sell it raw? Send it to NGC? As you can guess my ultimate goal is to sell this coin for a profit.

What do you guys think?

 

Personally, I would sell it as is. Those of us who hate slabs will simply ignore it when determining whether to purchase it, but there are many newbies to ancients who like the "protection" a slab brings. Yes its just ICG, but its not a self slab. Sending it Vagi might add value to certain customers, but not to most I believe.

If your goal is to make money, sell it as is. If your goal was to collect and cherish these, I would break it out of the slab to more fully enjoy it.

Just my opinion.

P.S. Be very careful comparing prices to "recent auctions". Ancient auctions can be weird breeds, especially ones at large shows. I bet you I could take an auction catalog with PRL to a major show and buy a lot of those items at a substantial discount. I just had someone offer me an electrum Greek for $700 and he had the auction catalog from a major show where a lesser coin, (but a die match), went for $1400 plus BP. I know you are an experienced dealer, just warning you major sales usually go quite high versus the real market.

 

I appreciate the guidance. From my looking I personally think this piece is nicer then the one that sold in may for $6,800. This was at auction of course...

I was thinking I'll just throw a number on it and put it on eBay and accept offers... if I get no action on it for a while I'll think about something else.

 

Its a nice piece. If the auction was in May I would not be as nervous as comparing the price versus certain auctions in January on the East Coast.

 

My question is whether you would get more selling through a larger dealer whose reputation would cause higher bids from those who buy $5k coins. The problem with this idea other than their fees is time. If you sell it on eBay, you will be paid before it is decided whether the coin qualifies for a big sale and your money may be months and months away if it does make a major catalog. My problem is that I would not even consider buying a coin on eBay offered by a dealer known not to be skilled in ancients and housed in a IGC slab. Will you find someone both with cash and willing to pay $2-3k for the coin based on your good reputation? I suspect it would sell to someone who wants a gold ancient but has none already.

 

I can't say that I blame you. I know enough to be dangerous... That's why I offer a full inspection and return policy on any coin we sell. But that's not here nor there... you are absolutely correct.

 

I appreciate 100% without question moneyback guarantees but, especially in a slab, a highest quality fake coin might go for decades before being recognized. It is a lot like an ad Honda has been running where their competitor claims to have a better warranty but they claim to have a better car. I have coins that I have owned for almost 50 years and the sellers passed years ago. Their warranties are worthless but I still enjoy the comfort of the trust I placed in them when I bought the coins and the education the years have brought me that makes me 101% certain that the warranties were never needed.