[ancients] A swing and a miss. Massive Ptolemy II, 107 gm.

Probably a good thing since I have another upcoming coin on my radar, plus I already have one of these superjumbo Ptolemaic bronzes. But dang... this one was in great condition. My absentee bid was low by almost half.

Once again, the pre-auction estimate was comically low (100 EUR)

From today's Künker auction:



Wowza. That's the nicest superjumbo I've seen! Wish it was mine but I'm sure the new owner is delighted.

 

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What's the diameter on that beast?

 

The listing didn't say. I inquired before the auction but they only reconfirmed the weight and did not provide the diameter.

 

The Ptolemaic bronzes were denominated by weight, but when I see one this large in such good condition, I find it difficult to believe they were meant for circulation. It looks like a presentation piece - a medal awarded to some dignitary perhaps.

 

Nice beast!

 

Why is it these ancient Greek coins often have what appear to be drill points in the center on one or both sides? Sometimes they are much more pronounced than in the coin pictured above.

 

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/pit.html

Info from Doug Smith's website.

 

Here's an excellent site on the manufacture of ancient flans. You've got to flip through all the pages to get to the part about lathe machining.

http://www.classicalcoins.com/flans1.html

 

Awesome coin, looks like a thick monster...

 

I don't like this coin at all. It's making my poor 68g Ptolemy II feel incredibly inferior.

 

How much did the coin sell for? 5ooE?

 

950 EUR (>$1500 USD when considering exchange rate, buyer's fee, shipping)

It is by far the nicest one I've seen of the 90+ gm specimens. That was a high price but frankly I don't think it was unreasonable. I didn't watch the live auction so I don't know anything about the number of bidders when it was on the block.

 

Sounds about right. I would have paid $1500 for it.

 

You have $1500 to spend on one coin? I'm way out of my league!

 

dang..well, if i did have 1,500 usd to spend and had to buy one coin...i couldn't do much better than than.

 

oops - double post

 

I have no such thing! I'm talking about a perfect universe.

 

Oh.......

 

I saw a superb example, not dissimilar to this coin in terms of quality last year at a coin fair in the UK. It was over 100g and was for sale at £275, so about $550. At half of the final sale price, I think your bid was a little low, but not too far from the value of the coin .... I wonder why this went for so much? I know its superb, but so was the one I saw/handled. Maybe thats auctions for you??

 

Wow, too bad I can't attend easily (cheaply) coin shows!