Is this coin fake or real?

Roman antoninianus Coin Herennia Etruscilla Trajan Decius

This has been dated the year 250 AC, I want to know if I bought a fake or replica as I am new to buying collector items.

 

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This should be a bigger picture of the coin.

 

I'm going to say real and due to condition worth in the range of around what you paid for it.

 

Real but in incredibly bad shape. I'm going to throw out a guess that it's Julia Mamaea.

 

I am fine with the shape, this is my first collectors coin, I personally find it more valuable to me than what it is worth. Thanks

 

It's Salonina and looks like a FECVNDITAS reverse -- Fecunditas, standing right, holding small child on left hand and holding hand of second child with her right

She was the wife of Gallienus. The coin below was issued A.D. 256- 7 from Rome

 

Cool coin! To think from the Roman times to your hands is incredible and well worth owning.

 

I have a rather stupid question, but that makes this coin still very rare correct? hopefully more rare than the coin I had originally thought it was?

 

Rare? I don't think so. Millions upon millions of coins were struck by the various Roman emperors.

 

The beauty of the hobby. One person's value as opposed to an others. Love this hobby!

 

It is not rare as ancient coins go. Victor showed a nice one; I have a moderate one; yours is low end. I imagine there are fewer of these than there are 1909s VDB Lincolns but demand for any ancients is minimal compared to rare moderns. Rarity means nothing except how it relates to supply and demand.

 

Rarity means nothing?? That's a bit harsh.

 

It is true. If there is only one example and no one cares about it, the value is minimal. We recently had a thread on coins in our collections that we believe are the only one known to exist. Several coins were shown and few of us added those coins to our want lists. The 'king' of ancient coins is the Brutus Ides of March denarius of which about 100 exist but thousands of collectors want one. We may have been wrong about our coins being unique but I doubt any of the coins we posted exist in as many as 100. Athenian owl tetradrachms, Tiberius Tribute Pennies and Judaean Widow's Mites exist by the truckload but are in such demand that they sell easily. Rarity means nothing. Demand is everything.

 

Well, I'll have to defer to your expertise here but I'd have to think that rarity has more value in the long run versus the flavor of the moment. If I have only one of something and they ain't makin' any more of them then the value almost certainly would have to go up in the long run. I'd also think that the popularity of certain rarities has a lot to do with who knows about it and how much the inferred rarity is 'advertised' if you will. That applies with anything. Look at that 'pickers' show on tv. People buy crap that means nothing to me for some odd reason. Signs, ads, etc. Because there's only one or two of something makes it inherently valuable, in my opinion. Maybe not today but likely tomorrow or someday relatively soon I'd think. I know nothing about ancients so again I'd defer to you but, to say rarity means 'nothing' is a bit steep. Just sayin'. Demand changes like the wind, even in coins (well, alright, sometimes in coins too).

 

I wholeheartedly agree with Doug:

I posted on that very same thread. Mine was one of two known, I considered mine unique as one was in the British Museum, and I held the other as a private collector. Ergo, only 2 known. It is even tied closely to early Roman history, as it is Etrurian (Etruscan); it is a much scarcer denomination (2-1/2 asses or an AR Sestertius); the Etrurians were the first to actually put the denomination on coins; all Etrurian coins are pretty scarce to find; etc. etc. It even has impeccable provenance.

I love it due to its rich history from MY perspective. HOWEVER, I doubt many else truly cared, outside of the curiosity of the actual coin.

With all of these unique attributes, I was able to snare it for an incredibly "cheap" price. To me, it is priceless; to all others: well, for the price I paid, for its rarity (1 of 2 know), etc., I purchased it for a song.

Recently, I have been looking at Gold Lifetime Staters of Alexander III the Great of Makedon, in which THOUSANDS are known; pricing is MUCH MUCH MUCH higher than my RARE Etrurian 2-1/2 Asses... Everyone pretty much KNOW who he is; most folks have no clue who the Etrurians are, (yet, Rome borrowed heavily from their Culture - their first Kings were Etrurian). DEMAND is everything for Ancients.

 

That has to do more with ignorance of the article in question more than anything else though. Again though, I'll have to defer on ancients. I know little about them (except for some 'uncleaned' examples I bought off of ebay a while back). I thought I'd remove the encased sediment and discover something cool. I've yet to engage in finding out what I have. If person A doesn't know that person B's widget is valuable then, it's his ignorance that makes it of little or no value, not the actual value. Gold has value. Silver has value. That even flucuates wildly but it will always have value. The rarer the piece, the higher the price. No?

 

I am not sure if ignorance is truly the factor. Modern era: I have been manufacturing quality consumer product for the last 35 years. I have produced MANY "rare" items. Pre-production prototypes, First-production pieces, etc. etc. Very few produced, WELL-known to the collector market. STILL, prices do not always reflect its rarity.

Rarity does not always fit into the Supply/Demand Economic Equations that everyone popularly recognize. Supply and Demand pertains to behavior: WANTS and NEEDS. If a person WANTS or NEEDS something, they will pay for it. They could care less about rarity, even if something is unique and EVERYONE knows about that unique item. However the rarity (even over time), if they do not WANT or NEED the item, they will not pay for it.

 

An Antoninianus of Cornelia Salonina! I love these! They have a wide variety of reverse types, are plentiful, and inexpensive even in quite high grades! I have about 30 different types of hers, in various denominations.

Your coin and other Antoniniani:



A Dupondius:



A tetradrachm of Alexandria, Egypt:



A Decassarion from Side in Pamphylia:

 

No. Demand is the only thing which creates price.

 

You and Doug are right about everything you are saying (as usual ) but I understand @TommyP's perspective. There is a reason that Galba and Otho coins sell for a huge premium and it's not because they were interesting fellows It's because they are rare issue coins. Granted it's the more famous Caesars that drive the demand but it's the rarity that drives the relative value.

Who knows, maybe there will be some discovery in Etruria or something else that will drive your coin value through the roof. Demand drives value but rarity leaves you in a better position to capitalize on it.

Of course this is all theoretical to me. I would never sell any of my coins, rare or not. My collection is where coins go to retire