Roman Republic Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome Mn. Cordius Rufus AR Denarius 46 BC Rome mint Diameter: 19 mm weight: 3.73 grams obverse: Diademed head of Venus right reverse: Cupid riding dolphin right reference: Crawford 463/3; CRI 65; Sydenham 977; Cordia 3a Other: 10h, Toned VF
I like the retoning. I see a lot of this on RR silver. They were found, cleaned, then stuck in old manila envelopes. Even my avatar pic has it, though you cannot tell from the pic.
yah, the toning is awesome on this example ... I also love how they tended to "combine" the monograms on these Roman Republic coins (eg. the "M" and "N" are mashed together ... very cool) Oh, not to mention that the reverse has "Cupid Riding a Dolphin!!" ... man, I want whatever that guy was smokin' :fro:
Hi, again => how do I make my insert-photos "larger?" (well, without putting my cursor over top on them) ... NOTE => my insert-photo is far smaller than Ripley's insert (ummm, but please don't tell my wife, for she thinks that I have a big insert!!)
People forget that today's brightly polished silver will have 'natural' toning in time. Republican denarii will tone more like 90% US coins than will later denarii with lower grade silver. We see more toned Peace dollars now than we did when I was a kid but they are 50+ years older. Metal detectors have caused a great increase in new hoard and freshly cleaned ancients. Steve's coin is pretty now but it will be gray when he is my age and nearly black when his great-great grandchildren inherit his coins. 'Toners' are fashionable now so we see them. There was a time where many of the US 'gems' I see would have been considered candidates for a dip. The question is what is 'natural' and what is 'artificial'. Manila envelopes of the not acid free variety, living in a coal burning town, handling with dirty fingers and a dozen other things will speed or alter the progress of silver from bright to dark. Many of our finer ancients have been in collections longer than is possible for most of the coins we now see as 'toners'. I won't be around to see how this plays out in 50+ years but some of you will. Let me know how it goes.
It will circle around to white, untarnished coins being preferred and all of the idiots who AT their coins will be out a pile of money. I read that on the internet, and you know.......
