A Damaged Domitian

I had previously mentioned in another thread that a coin was added to a recent purchase for free as an incentive to close the deal. The main coin I was after was my recently posted Titus Caesar quinarius. Here is the incentive coin:



Domitian as Caesar
AR Quinarius (Broken)
Rome mint, 75 AD
RIC V791 (C), BMC V158, RSC 634
Obv: CAES AVG F DOMI COS III; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTI; Victory std. l., with wreath and palm

Broken, but enough of the major devices remain to identify it properly. I think I got the better half.

Feel free to post your broken or 'problem' coins.

 

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A pitty it's broken. That Victory on the reverse looks like the work of a master celator.

 

Coincidentally, these two quinarii arrived within days of my receiving the vintage Bausch and Lomb magnifying glass. (Yes, I'm going to show it off again.)



Needless to say that old lens has gotten quite a work-out over the last few days! It is indeed a pity the Domitian is broken, but if it had to be broken I couldn't ask for a better 'break'. I agree, the style is quite fine.

 

Sorry to subject you all to this coin again Technically its damage, but its highly desirable damage (although I can imagine some collectors not seeing it this way).

Domitian, Roman Empire (revalued under the Ostrogothic Kingdom)
AE as/42 nummi
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIAN COS II, laureate head left, countermark XLII (42) in left field
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVST, Victory advancing right, standing on prow, holding wreath and palm branch, S-C across fields
Mint: Rome (struck 73-74 AD; revalued 498-526 AD)
Ref: RIC 677

 

Such a shame, but you know what you will never find another like it and that's worth something.

 

I like the portrait. His early ones tend to be squarish like that one.

 

And should it be plain, I doubt you'd get it for free...
Still a nice coin

The coin below is as much "broken" as VK's is "damaged" (and I think I have the better part too)


Augustus & Agrippa, AE halved dupondius struck in Nemausus, after 10 BC
3rd type
[IM]P [DI]VI F , Laureate head of Augustus right
[COL NEM], Crocodile chained to palm tree
6.70 gr
Ref : RCV #1730, Cohen # 10


Q

 

Here is a Denarius with bubble damage. Who did you get the Quinarius from?

 

It's too bad you don't have the entire whole coin. It looks like it was a real beauty. However, like you said, you got the better half. I have no problem buying a broken coin as long as the devices can be identified.


GELA, SICILY
AR Litra
OBV: Naked horseman galloping left holding spear & shield
REV: Forepart of man-headed bull right
Struck at Gela, Sicily, 425BC
0.36g; 13mm
SNG Cop 275, BMC 52, Jenkins 405; HGC 2 374


ISLAND OFF THRACE THASOS
AR Trihemiobol
OBVERSE: Satyr running left, holding kylix
REVERSE: ΘΑΣ − ΙΩΝ Amphora Struck at Thasos, 411-350BC
0,7 g, 12 mm;
SNGCop 1030


EASTERN CELTS, DACHREITER TYPE
AR Drachm
OBVERSE: Celticized head of Zeus right
REVERSE: Celticized horseman riding left; wheel of four spokes above
Struck by the Skordoski in Syrmia, 2d Century BC
1.87g, 14mm
OTA 188/2-3

 

And that the price is right too, of course

Here are more dramatically damaged coins I have:

My Theodoric half-siliqua:



And my Charles the Bald obol (he is the historical basis of Emperor Charles from the Vikings series):

 

I think I can offer at least these two; the bronze of 'Livia/Justitia' is a bit corroded and my Augustus/Caesar denarius obviously a bit chipped.

 

Vcoin's dealer GB Collection.

 

I like it

 

This is a great public service advertisement for why you should never drop an ancient coin. Ancient silver, under certain conditions, can turn as brittle as glass. Use precaution if you don't want to find out the hard way whether yours is one of them.

I've even heard of coins breaking in half as they are being put or taken out of a 2x2. This is particularly common with a lot of the fractional greek silver coins. They should be treated gently.

 

Been there, done that unfortunately. Thank goodness nothing ever broke though.

 

Funnily enough, this coin's silver quality is actually pretty good. Silver coins at Rome when this piece was struck are near 80% fine. I can't hazard a guess as to how or why it's broken. What's interesting to me is seeing the 'insides' of the coin. You can see the process of silver enrichment quite clearly.

 

I'll throw in another...and it's a fourree too LOL

 

Now, that's a fourreé I would like to have. I wonder if some Roman realised it was a forgery and instead of throwing it out or passing it on made it into jewellery? Very cool.

 

This is by far the most outrageously pitted, eroded, and damaged coin in my collection. It's big, 34mm, 18.6 grams. I paid very little for it. When it arrived in the mail I was appalled to find it all fuzzy with bronze disease, so I cleaned it. I was further surprised to find some gold under the diseased green garden. Looks like bronze underneath that. I don't know what it is. A fouree? Dionysus? It's really ugly and probably worthless but I like it for some reason. Maybe because my interest in macro photographing various interesting patinas on old bronze coins overlaps my metallurgy and geology interests. Any info or opinions would be very welcome.

 

'V' I've heard many possibilities...the most probable, considering the holes location, is that it was done to noticeably rendered it as 'bad money'---but who knows..