Vitellius, AR denarius, Civil War Issue AR 18mm/3.1gm Rome mint c. 69 AD Con/ Slightly off-struck to left, otherwise, Very Fine. Obv/ [A VITELLIVS] GERM IMP AVG TR P; laureate head right Rev/ XV VIR SACR FAC; Tripod-lebes with dolphin laying right above and raven standing right below Ref/ RIC Vol One, 109, RSC111, BCM39 Ex. Noble Roman Coins
Nice one! I really like the design of that reverse. I like birds lol. Mine has an eagle on the scepter on the reverse but it’s tiny and hard to see.
I bought my coin for the obverse portrait. I’ve noticed that some of Vitellius’s coins have almost cartoonish portraits. Mine has a decently realistic, expressive portrait style.
It’s not just Vitellius! Take a look at this Marcus Aurelius denarius of mine. It’s Looney Tunes levels of cartoonish. Lol!
I tried to be picky when l looked for Aurelius denarii to add to my 5 Good Emperors set: AR Denarius (19mm, 3.46g) M ANTONINVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, laureate head right / TR P XXI IMP IIII COS III, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae. RIC 171.
Anyone happen to know if Otho & Galba are more or less expensive than Vitellius? I have a nice Vespasian already and I’m going to need all four of them for a complete collection of Emperors. If they’re super expensive I could go lower grade like this one.
Galba is a bit more expensive than Vitellius. But not by much. Otho is the most difficult to find, and is by far the most expensive and desirable of the three emperors. I have denarii of Vitellius and Galba, but I lack an Otho because he’s so expensive. I’m probably going to substitute an Alexandria tetradrachm of Otho in place of a denarius.
I was thinking of bidding on this one just to have an example of Otho even if it’s in super low grade.
Here are some coins I like with bankers marks and I dare say if they were in plastic slabs it would be remarked on as if they were a negative. None of these coins were a problem to me with the defacement and in a perverse way were almost an approbation of authenticity although as you mentioned it would not be beyond the wit of man to add them. Finally to keep on threat with the OP here is another Vitellius in which I consider that his nose has been "enhanced" to make him epitomise the Roman ideal of the day. I sometimes wonder if Nerva's nose was attributable to the skill of the engraver. I reckon you could write a thesis on the Roman nose on coinage.
Why would someone use a banker's mark on an ancient coin in modern times? The coins circulated in antiquity and banker's marks were used to see that it was real silver.
I guess @Gam3rBlake is considering that bankers marks add value @AncientJoe , the reality is that TV shows and better education mean that any damage to a coin is considered a problem even by non-collectors so I don't see this is an issue at all. I accept them as part of the contemporary history of the coin and I doubt if anyone would go out of their way to deface a valuable coin to attract an eccentric. I think the comment was made out of context because I said I looked for them. What I meant was that they don't put me off buying but they might put others off which reduces the price. Pristine artefacts don't ring my bell and that is not a monetary issue ( although means dictate otherwise) but I want to engage and relate to the history so things like PCGS MS/PR 65 make me yawn. In my humble opinion, slabs are generally not about history they are about obsession, investment and a global urinary competition. Certainly they protect the investor and amateur counterfeiting but from my own point of view I have made some pretty bad mistakes but learnt from them. Shame me once, shame on you, shame me twice, shame on me. My advice on new collectors whether it is coins or antiques, is buy the book before the item.
Because if they think they’ll be paid more for a coin if it has bankers marks they could easily use tools to create their own banker’s marks.
I like slabs because they allow me to collect ancient coins without being too afraid of getting ripped off. If slabbed coins didn’t exist I wouldn’t even bother to collect ancients because I wouldn’t know which coins are real and which coins are really good fakes.
I know a lot of people say that but even dealers make it hard without slabs. For example what if I bought a coin from a dealer raw and I didn’t know it was fake for many years? The dealer might not even be in business anymore. Even if he was how do I prove that the coin I bought from him is the same as the one determined fake? That’s why it’s really hard because there is almost a time limit on how long dealers can guarantee their coins. I want to mention it’s true NGC does not guarantee their coins either. But I feel more comfortable with their ancient coin Experts giving the coins a thumbs up than with a dealer whose primary knowledge is most likely in American coins like Morgan Dollars. I know every dealer in my town could identify a fake Morgan Dollar within a few minutes. But how many of them could identify a well faked hammer struck counterfeit ancient? In my experience it’s very few. From what I’ve seen most dealers have alot of experience with US coins but not ancients.
But there are lots of dealers who specialize in ancients. VCoins is a good place to go for that: every dealer on VCoins is obliged to guarantee authenticity as part of their Code of Ethics. Not all, but I think most dealers extend that guarantee for life. Some, such as Forvm Ancient Coins, guarantees their coins for eternity. I guess what it boils down to is, are the dealers as good at spotting fakes as NGC? Certainly not all dealers are. But I think there are plenty who are just as knowledgeable and trustworthy as NGC.
That's essentially the same as complaining that your local car dealership can't authenticate your Morgan Dollar. US Coins are not ancient coins. Very few dealers competently trade in both. As long as you only buy from trustworthy dealers of ancients, you're safe (and the same goes for US coins: I wouldn't buy a US coin from a predominately ancient dealer).
Well I mean yeah if people were telling me to buy Morgan Dollars at a car dealership it would be the same thing. That’s why I say I don’t buy raw coins from dealers because they usually don’t have the expertise to guarantee the ancient coins they sell.