Hi all! I just thought I'd share a coin that I bought recently. It's my first coin which depicts a bridge Constantine I Commemorative Obverse: POP ROMANVS - Genius Populi Romanus facing left with cornucopia over left shoulder Reverse: Mivian Bridge over The Tiber River, CONS/A above I don't really collect these, but I recognised the type when I saw it on eBay and snagged it for just over £6. Show me some of your coins with bridges on, Constantine I commemoratives, or anything else you think might be relevant!
Nice coin, and great purchase! I have the other "POP ROMANVS" type, RIC VII Constantinople 22. It's been suggested these POP ROMANVS coins were struck for the inauguration of Constantinople in 330 AD. The identity of the bridge seems a bit unclear. It's not obvious why Constantinople would be depicting a bridge from Rome. It's also been suggested as a bridge across the Danube that had been built by Constantine, more local to Constantinople. These coins are discussed in a paper by Lars Ramskold available here: https://www.researchgate.net/public...e_Inauguration_of_Constantinopolis_11_May_330
That's a very rare type among the issues of Constantine, and very desirable type among collectors. It's possible that you stole it for just over £6, but I would be extremely suspicious of a fake here. Sorry to rain on your parade. The only specimen for sale on vcoins, for example, will run you $200. See here. If your example were authentic, one would expect a veritable host of bidders, driving the price up to at least that amount.
It looks fine to me... eBay is an extraordinarily inefficient market. From time to time things just do fly under the radar due to poor descriptions (not matching what people are searching for), poor photos, or just the luck of who happens to see it.
Yes, I was initially a bit suspicious when I saw it listed. However, it was a new buy it now listing, and the seller has about 50 LRBs and worn sesterces listed of similar condition, so I guessed they were all metal detecting finds and thought it was worth a punt for £6. The photo was also pretty terrible, which I thought was why it was missed by other people. Seller photos: I tried looking for fakes before buying, and couldn't find any die matches.
I've been the beneficiary of a few of those too! Sometimes on eBay it's also just pure luck... even with a proper description, decent photo, long-duration listing and no buy-it-now, ridiculous things can happen!
Exactly! I was going to point out the same thing! It's really a classic mistake for a seller ... if you don't know what it's worth, then don't slap a "buy it now" price on it (haha, just kidding - please continue to do that!).
It looks authentic to me as well at first glance, although as per my previous posts, that's not always an indication that it isn't fake. Still, I agree with @Heliodromus - EBay is extremely inefficient and really great coins sometimes fall through the cracks with poor pictures / misattribution etc. Congratulations on your find.
