With ancient coins there are just too many things to consider when deciding if a coin belongs in our collections. I have always been bothered by rough coins and hate broken coins but there was something I liked about my Magnentius so I kept it hoping someday to upgrade to a whole coin without a chunk missing. This week I was able to add a similar coin that I found quite attractive but now can't accept it as the upgrade of my dreams because, for all its good points, the old coin still has some virtues over the new: The new coin has nice surfaces and is fully round but it does have more wear and less detail on the reverse scene. The old coin has a very unusual horse head that really looks like a cat while the new one is considerably more equine. The new coin is certainly identifiable as an RIC 271 page 158 but the old one is cutting it close in the area after the mintmark making it hard to call whether it is a 269, 270 or 271 (a range from R2 to C2 for those who believe in RIC rarity scales). There is also a difference in the officina with the old being a TRP while the new is TRS. It turns out that my desire to replace a faulty coin failed because the new coin, while perfect in some ways, falls short when it comes to detail and the saddled cat remains cute enough to keep a place in my collection. Most collectors probably would never have bought the broken coin in the first place but now I find myself unwilling to part with it until I find a whole cat-faced coin with good detail and good surfaces. This is an example of how a collector who accepts coins for their good points while overlooking their shortcomings can end up with way too many coins and still be convince that all are different and needed. I admit wondering if anyone else has a coin of this type that would confirm the RIC listing of the broken coin (TRP plain, dot or crescent?) and if anyone else has a cat faced horse?
I agree that there is enough difference to not call it an upgrade, a problem with LRB.Both have their good and bad qualities but both are pretty nice. I think I'm going to have the image of the Cathorse in my head for ever lol. Very odd, but really cool! edit: I keep putting nt when I dont mean to and leave it out when I need too (-_- Sorry
I think this would be more of a Magnetius AE that be easier to upgrade, regardless of the mint or any other differences. Even with a less scarce one The only thing I really like about it is the face of one of the Victories.
I llike the original coin more than the upgrade. Details alone make the original far superior even if it has a hunk of the coin missing. If the new coin just had a little less wear...,, Ah, could be another upgrade opportunity will leave you with a specimen better than either of these.
